


Rectification

by kontraklarinette



Series: Time’s Blight [1]
Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Dancing, F/F, First Kiss, Hurt/Comfort, Lots of Angst, Part 1 of a trilogy, Slow Burn, Time Travel, alternatively: amity blight uses the power of lesbianism to tamper with the time space continuum, lots of fluff, post-Season 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:20:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 60,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26367832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kontraklarinette/pseuds/kontraklarinette
Summary: When Luz finally leaves the Boiling Isles, Amity’s newfound loneliness drives her to give into drastic means of giving herself a second chance.(Time magic can’t be all that dangerous, can it?)
Relationships: Amity Blight & Edric Blight & Emira Blight, Amity Blight & Willow Park, Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, minor one-sided boscha/willow, very minor viney/emira
Series: Time’s Blight [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2023397
Comments: 181
Kudos: 530





	1. Chapter 1

The tree was beautiful this time of year.

The leaves, which were usually a delicate, pale pink, were fading to a faint lavender as autumn approached the Boiling Isles, and as Amity watched their frail outlines, a few detached themselves from their branch and spiraled slowly to the ground. The grass around the bottom of the trunk was already littered with the purple leaves, and the dusk sunlight caught them through the branches of the tree and made the color even more radiant.

The whole thing was very romantic, Amity thought. That is, if she had anyone to be romantic here _with._

_But I never told her. And now it’s too late._

She could still see the portal in her mind’s eye. No, not just the portal- she could see Luz too, and the strangely regretful yet relieved expression Luz had worn as she’d disappeared behind the wall of blinding white light. She could see Eda and Lilith out of her peripheral vision, both surprisingly wiping tears out of their eyes. Willow and Gus had been there too, both barely keeping their composure. Even Amity’s siblings had joined in the goodbyes, and even they had seemed sad. 

They’d all left before the portal even closed, unable to bear the thought that the girl who had come to be family was gone forever. 

But Amity knew none of them were even close to being as devastated as she was. 

In a spout of annoyance, she distractedly kicked a tree branch that lay at her feet. “Now she’s gonna go back to being a normal human, and she’ll forget all about me,” she muttered to herself. “She’ll probably find another girl who’s prettier than I am that she’ll like more than she could have ever liked me. ‘Amity Blight? Who’s Amity Blight? Never heard of her,’” she mimicked.

She let out a long exhale and felt her shoulders slump. She couldn’t force herself to be mad at Luz. Luz had done what Luz had needed to do.

_She’s got a life outside of me._

But for five months, Luz had been Amity’s world.

After Emperor Belos had destroyed the portal to the human realm, Luz had broken the news to Amity that her return home was delayed indefinitely. It had been hard for Amity to _not_ be overjoyed. She knew she shouldn’t have been- that Luz had a life, a _family,_ back home- but the prospect of spending possibly forever with the girl she might have been crushing on just a little bit made her so happy she thought her excitement would blow a hole through the roof. She began daydreaming up ways to confess her feelings for Luz- it wouldn’t be so pointless if Luz wasn’t going to leave.

But Luz’s magic grew stronger as she spent more time training. Even Eda and Lillith quickly got the hang of their new way of doing magic, and soon they were as powerful as they’d been before the Petrification. With more strength, however, came new discoveries, and with new discoveries came new magic, and that had all culminated the day Eda had found a way to create a portal to Luz’s realm by herself. 

The three days after that discovery had flown by fast as a griffon. None of it had felt real- _Luz? Leaving? Nah, this is just some weird dream-_ so Amity had gone about her business as normal, ignoring the packed bags that began to pile up in Luz’s room whenever she visited. She went about things as normal, that is, until just an hour ago, when she’d been forced to say goodbye and the reality of it all hit her like some sort of freakishly strong spell. Luz was going away, and she was not coming back.

And now Amity was here.

She didn’t know _why_ she’d chosen to come here. Any other place would probably have hurt less. Of course, it wasn’t like there was a single location on the Boiling Isles that _didn’t_ remind her of Luz, but the Grom tree was probably the worst of all, since she and Luz had created it together. Regardless, as soon as she’d left the Owl House, she found her steps taking her through the woods, up the cliff, and down memory lane. Maybe a corner of her subconscious couldn’t handle the memory of Luz’s departure, so she wanted to surround herself with good memories instead of bad.

Maybe if she didn’t _have_ these memories, she wouldn’t be hurting as much. 

Inhaling shakily and trying to keep the lump in her throat under control, Amity took a step towards the tree and rested one hand on the trunk. The bark felt strangely smooth, and when Amity clenched her fist and pressed her forehead against the tree she finally let her tears fall.

“Luz.”

She didn’t know why she was talking. Luz couldn’t _hear_ her. 

“I’m going to miss you so much.”

A sob escaped her throat.

“I’m sorry I never got to tell you the truth.”

And another.

“Please don’t forget about me.”

She dug her fingernails into the tree bark and let herself quietly cry until she was totally drained. She could hear the dusk wind whistling through the branches of the tree, the only sound that accompanied her tears. She knew she wasn’t a pretty crier. She was glad that Luz had never really seen her cry, unless she counted the Covention disaster, but she’d been careful there to not show the human her true emotions. But then again, Luz- selfless, steadfast, affectionate Luz- probably wouldn’t have cared anyway. If anything, she wouldn’t have left Amity’s side until Amity felt better, speaking in soft tones and giving her gentle hugs until her witch friend had recovered.

The idea only made the tears come harder.

Only when her chest was heaving for breath and her eyes were sore did Amity step away from the tree.

“I knew I wouldn’t gain anything by coming here,” she whispered. Again she wondered who she thought was listening. It certainly wasn’t Luz, and… if it wasn’t Luz, what did it really matter? The clifftop was empty anyway. Amity was the only one in sight.

A cold breeze wafted across the back of Amity’s neck.

_Oh, Amity. I’m always listening._

At the sound of the familiar voice, goosebumps erupted all over Amity’s skin and she stumbled backwards, nearly tripping over another long twig. “Who’s there?” she snapped hoarsely. Were her ears playing tricks on her, or… 

_You poor, poor thing._ The voice seemed to be coming from everywhere at once, and it echoed eerily around her. _You really miss me so much, don’t you?_ _To see you in such a state is just… heartbreaking._

“Wait.” Another chill wreathed around Amity’s legs and she shuddered again. _“Me…?”_

 _That’s right,_ the voice replied. 

“You’re…”

 _I am._

Then something shifted. The huge roots of the tree began to shake. The ground around the tree cracked and split, and a thick black mist emanated all around it. The wind picked up and Amity found herself frantic.

“What’s going on?” she shouted, though she couldn’t hear herself over the increasingly raging wind. ”I don’t understand! Luz?”

The ground split between Amity’s feet and she leapt backwards to avoid being swallowed up by the ground. Her heart beat faster as she watched branches and leaves spiral into the dark chasm. “Luz, where are you?”

_I’m right here._

The storm stopped just as quickly as it had started. The ground stopped shaking, the wind stopped blowing, and silence once again enveloped the clifftop. The only sign of damage to the tree was the fault that extended a few yards from the trunk which Amity had narrowly escaped.

As Amity watched, the same dark mist rose from the crack and began to shape itself into something- no, someone- _familiar._ “You’re not Luz,” Amity said shakily as the mist creature took a step towards her. The outline of the creature was recognizable- the tufty hair, the thin frame, the way it held itself… but it was just so _off_.

 _Wish hard enough and anything can happen,_ it said.

“I know you,” whispered Amity. Horror was beginning to dawn on her. She didn’t have anyone to defend her this time- and this creature had returned. It was on the loose and Luz wasn’t there to be her fearless champion. “You’re Grometheus. You’re the Fear Bringer.”

 _Ah, but not as you last saw me._ The Fear Bringer’s wide white eyes glimmered- with what, Amity couldn’t tell. It wasn’t malice. It wasn’t revenge. Its expression was almost… nostalgic? Bored? Whatever it was, it was a strange look to see on a nightmare monster. As Amity examined it further, she could see subtle differences in the way this Grom stood as compared to her previous confrontation. Its outline was fainter, its movement less deliberate. Was it… weakened? 

Perhaps it was trying to fool her. “I don’t want to fight you,” Amity said bravely.

_I am not here to fight._

Amity snorted. “What? Like you’d be here to do anything else?”

 _I am not strong enough to fight,_ Grom insisted. _But I sensed that you are in terror. It gave me enough strength to break free of that… wooden prison. But I cannot harm you in this state._

“Then what do you want from me?”

 _Fear. Yours, especially._ The creature leaned forward slightly as if to absorb the terror that Amity was sure had to be radiating from her body. _There is so much of it. It could make me stronger. I could break free before the year is up._ _All the Isles could be mine._ A faint, shadowy smile formed on its face. _All thanks to that strange little being you call Luz._ _After all, you think she'll forget you. You’re_ terrified _that she’ll forget you._

Amity opened her mouth to rebuke the creature, but she found herself unable to lie.

 _Struck a chord, I see._ Grom’s smile grew wider. 

“No. No.” Amity shook her head. “I- I can’t be responsible for this. I _won’t_ be responsible for this. I would never let myself unleash a creature like you onto my home.” She pointed at the chasm as if she were talking to a disobedient dog. “Go away. You don’t need anything from the Isles.”

 _Well, it’s not like you just stop being scared,_ Grom pointed out. _Unless you have Luz back, you will always be terrified that she will forget. Unless you forget her, too._

As if she had been physically struck, Amity flinched back. “I would never forget Luz.”

_Another fear, I see. And... is that a third I sense, buried underneath all the others? A fear of… me? Of what I’ll do to you?_

“Stop that.” Still, she couldn’t bring herself to lie.

Grom pretended to muse for a moment. _Well, now that I think about it, I suppose there is something you could do to get Luz back. It would certainly be entertaining to watch you try, anyway. And if you fail… perhaps then your terror for the future would be enough to allow me to break free. I like the odds._

Amity didn’t. But the prospect of getting Luz back was enticing. Knowing that she’d do anything for Luz scared her even more. Was her devotion a good thing, or a bad thing?

_What do you think, Amity Blight?_

“I don’t understand what you’re asking me,” Amity said bluntly. “Is this some kind of trade with the Titan type thing? With a climactic handshake and then the reveal that you were just trying to kill me all along and that I just signed my life away?”

 _I can’t tell you now,_ Grom replied. _But if you agree, I’ll help you return to Luz. And if you don’t return to Luz… the Isles are as good as mine. Is that a chance you’re willing to take? An arm for an arm? A friend for an end?_

Amity hesitated. She spent a long moment considering the creature’s proposal. 

Luz or lose. 

Then she remembered her goodbye. The devastation that tore through her chest as she watched Luz disappear. The regret that nearly choked her with the tempting aura of lost chances. 

Her dance with Luz that had contained this monster until Amity’s fear set it free. 

She’d gotten herself into this mess. She knew it was her job to get her- and Luz- out.

She lifted her chin determinedly. “I’ll do it.”

 _Perfect,_ the monster hissed. Almost immediately it began to disintegrate into mist, flowing back into the chasm it had created. As it disappeared, it whispered one last strange thing to Amity.

_Check your pockets._

As the earth beneath her magically closed up again, Amity reached into the pocket of her cloak and pulled out a shiny golden key.

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

The moon was already hanging high in the sky by the time Amity returned to the Owl House. She’d sprinted nearly the whole way, out of breath and practically shaking to tell Eda what had happened. If anyone could help Amity understand what this strange key was for, it was Eda, right?

She skidded to a halt at the front door and rapped a few sharp knocks on it.  _ Please let her still be here, _ she pleaded silently.  _ Please let her- _

“HOOT?”

Amity drew her wrist sharply away from the door and suppressed a groan of exasperation. “Oh. I forgot you would be here too.”

Hooty fixed Amity with his strange, beady stare. “Luz’s mean girlfriend?” he asked. “What are  _ you  _ doing here? Didn’t you hear that Luz already left? Hoot hoot!”

“I was  _ there, _ Hooty,” Amity snapped. She elected to pay no mind to the fact that Hooty calling Luz Amity’s girlfriend only made the wound more painful. 

“It really is too bad that she’s gone. She was my  _ only  _ friend. She  _ never  _ beat me up.”

Amity ignored Hooty’s blatant cry for sympathy. “Is Eda here?”

“She and Lilith and your nicer siblings never left! They came back here an hour ago, muttering about Luz and how much fun it will be to console you now that she’s gone.”

The key seemed to be burning a hole in Amity’s pocket. “I need to talk to her.”

“I’ll let you in if you tell me the magic wooord!” Hooty sang. “I’ll give you a hint, it starts with  _ I  _ and ends with  _ love Hooty!” _

“That’s three words, you idiot! Just let me in.”

“Say please.”

Amity clenched her fists at her side to avoid lashing out at the strange owl-tube. “ _ Please?” _

“I knew you had some good in you.” Hooty allowed the door to swing open. “Have fun with your reminiscing, hoot hoot!”

Without so much as a thank-you to Hooty, Amity barged through the doorway and into the house.

Hooty’d warned her that Luz’s farewell entourage had convened here, but it was still strange to see them all together in one place so soon after Luz’s departure. It was especially odd to see Edric and Emira looking so somber as they sat off to the side. Ed was slumped on the floor, leaning against the coffee table, Em sitting hunched over next to him. King, usually so keen to greet visitors, was nowhere to be seen, and Eda and Lilith were seated together on the couch, heads bent together and speaking quietly. Amity could make out a few of their whispers before they noticed she was there.

“The spell’s too difficult to try again,” Eda was saying. “And we’ve got no way to communicate with her. We don’t know if she’d even see that the portal reactivated.”

Amity couldn’t stand to hear anything about how unlikely it was that she’d see Luz again, so she chose that moment to interrupt. “Hi,” she broke in.

The four of them glanced up at Amity simeotaneously. Em was the first to break the beat of silence. “Amity?”

Even Em must’ve been beating herself up over this is she wasn’t calling Amity her stupid nickname.

“Sorry I disappeared,” Amity said awkwardly. “I… needed some time to think.”

“I understand.” Eda rose from her spot on the couch and approached the young witch. Amity couldn’t resist the instinct to duck in and give Eda a hug, and to her surprise, the Owl Lady reciprocated.

“I miss her too,” Eda murmured. “We  _ all  _ do.”

For a moment Amity was caught up in the sorrowful atmosphere of the room, and she let herself relax for the moment in the comfort of her family’s presence. But then she remembered the key weighing heavy in the pocket of her tunic, and she stepped away from Eda. “I found something,” she blurted. “Near… near the Grom tree.” She decided that it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to mention the exact methods of attaining the key, at least not yet. Neither of the adults would be likely to believe that Grom’s promposal wasn’t a trap but rather just a very risky and potentially world-endangering bargain.

Eda raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Here.” Amity pulled out the key and handed it to Eda. “I think… I think it’s a key to a portal, and if we can find the portal, then… I can see Luz again. And I can tell her…” she trailed off.  _ I can tell her I love her? _ “I can tell her a proper goodbye.”

“A key to a portal, huh?” Eda mused. She turned the golden key over in her hands a few times, examining it closely. “If it’s a key to a portal, then why does it have the Bonesbourough Public Library logo on it?” She handed it back to Amity and shrugged. “Sorry, kid. Just means there’ll be a library security guard getting fired tonight.”

Amity frowned and gave the key a closer inspection. She had noticed the large  _ BPL  _ emblazoned on the side, but she’d assumed it had stood for… Big Portal… something, or something. “Oh,” was all she could get out.

As she was about to turn back around and head for the door- even without any notion of where she’d go once she was outside- Em appeared at Eda’s side. “Hey, lemme see that.”

Shrugging, Amity handed her sister the key. “Don’t use it just so you can go sneaking around where you’re not supposed to,” she muttered.

“Says the girl who has a secret library hideout in the romance section,” Em replied, giving the key a once-over. After a moment, her eyes lit up. “Hey, I recognize this. Ed, c’mere!”

Amity saw her older brother blink himself out of his stupor and join his twin. When he saw the hey, his face filled with recognition. “You’re right. I've seen that before. The plating is very familiar. But as many times as I’ve spotted it lying around the library, I’ve never been able to get my hands on it.”

“What is it?” asked Amity.

“It’s a key,” Em said, pausing for dramatic effect, “to the  _ restricted section!” _

“The  _ restricted section? _ No, thanks. That’s gross. I’ll stay in my hideout.” 

Em laughed. “Silly, it’s not that kind of restricted section. We’re talking about stuff  _ nobody’s _ allowed to access, even old people like us. Like… really advanced magic. Covenless type stuff, even. Magic that messes with the  _ very fabric of reality _ .”

Amity blinked. “You mean like… portal magic?”

“Bingo.”

“How do you know all this?” Eda broke in tetichily. Amity had forgotten that she was even there.

Ed shrugged. “We’ve had our escapades. We’ve watched guards going in and out after hours. None of them ever stay for too long- they're probably just checking around for troublesome teenagers.”

“And now’s our chance to go!” Em explained. “Ed and I can explore, and you can find a portal spell that'll let you see Luz one more time.”

“I’ve wanted to see what was back there for years,” Ed agreed.

_ One more time. _ Even that suggestion made Amity’s heart ache. How was she supposed to cope, knowing that she’d only get to see Luz  _ once,  _ and then Luz would practically be gone forever?

Unless they found a particularly powerful spell at the library…

“Fine,” Amity huffed. She tried to put up an air of annoyance at her siblings’ recklessness, but she still couldn’t keep a smile from forming despite herself. After all, they were doing this to help her. Partially. 

Ed grinned. “So whaddya say? Late-night sibling trip?”

“Late night sibling trip!” Em cheered.

Eda rolled her eyes. “Guess there’s no stopping you now. Oh well, if you got caught I’m not going to rescue you, because then I’d get caught too.”

A voice sounded from the living room. “Are you really going to let them get away with this? I knew you were a rule breaker, sister, but must you impart that lifestyle on others?”

Amity peered around Em. Lilith hadn’t moved from her spot on the couch, and was now gazing disdainfully at the teens. She held back a giggle. Her mentor and Eda were such polar opposites, and she had no idea how they were still getting along after living together for one whole month.

“Calm down, Lily. I’m sure they won’t get in to much trouble.” Eda shot a wink at Amity. “If you find any spells, let me know, won’t you? I’ve heard nobody but the Emperor’s personal lackeys have ever had access to this archive.”

Amity nodded as the twins, laughing, bustled her out the door.

The cold night air hit her skin and she looked up at the moon. Was Luz looking at her human moon right that moment? Was Luz thinking about her too?

_ I’m coming, Luz. I’ll see you soon. I promise. _

~

“You seem to be in a good mood,” Em commented as the three siblings hovered behind a pillar just in front of the library. ”When Luz left, I wondered if I’d ever see you happy again. And now you are. Go figure.”

“I’m really hopeful that we’ll be able to find something that’ll take me back to Luz,” Amity confessed. “I’m not sure what it is, but… I can just feel it.”

“Just promise you'll actually tell her how you feel this time. Ed and I are tired of waiting. For Titan’s sake, you can’t even speak around her. It’s about time you two sorted your feelings out. Right, Ed?”

Ed didn’t reply. He was peeking around the pillar, watching an illusion he’d conjured up attempt to distract the guard in front of the locked library doors. “Just a moment,” he grunted. “In the middle of something.”

Amity looked away. “I don’t know what you're talking about.”

“You can feign ignorance all you want,” Em chided gently, “but we both know. Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with us. Seriously- Ed and I are both just as gay as you are.”

“What-“

“Hey guys, we’re in,” Ed hissed suddenly. Amity snapped her mouth shut as Em gripped her arm and dragged her past the pillar and through the now-open library doors. The guard was nowhere to be seen.

The inside of the library was strangely eerie. The halls were quiet and still, and the signs of life it held during waking hours were gone. The last memory Amity had of this place was the horrible Otabin attack- or at least, it’d had seemed horrible until Luz had looked at her with that goofy expression and she’d found herself laughing.  _ Laughing.  _ At her sworn enemy. She’d been embarrassed about that moment- and about all the feelings that had surfaced afterward- but she’d overcome them quickly. Luz was worth it.

And finding her again- even just once- would be worth it too.

“I think it’s here,” Em hissed. She gestured for Amity to follow her down a dark narrow hallway, and Amity reluctantly obliged. The sense or eeriness that she’d felt in the lobby stayed with her as she traipsed along through the darkness.

When Ed and Em finally stopped, Amity almost slammed into them. They stood in front of an iron door labeled RESTRICTED, and her heart flew up to her throat. She was almost there. She was so close to finding a way to see Luz again. Bracing herself, she handed the key to Ed, who stuck it inside the heavy-looking lock on the door, and- 

“This isn’t the right key.”

Amity felt all the color drain from her face.  _ “What?” _

Ed jammed the key at the lock again. “The key’s too big for this lock.”

“I think I might pass out,” Amity whispered.

“Let me try.” Em shoved her brother to the side. She gave the door one swift push and it swung open, nearly clanging into the wall beside it. “You idiot. It was already open. We didn’t even need a key.”

Even in the darkness, Amity saw redness color her brother’s face.

“Gee, thanks for making me feel stupid,” he sighed.

“The only person who should feel stupid is the one who was in charge of locking that door,” Em pointed out. “Maybe-“

“Wait,” Amity interrupted. “If- if that key doesn’t fit in the lock, what exactly is it for?” She hoped desperately that there was a portal somewhere after all, but at this point it seemed unlikely. If there were another portal anywhere on the Isles, surely Belos would have gotten his hands on it already. 

Em shrugged. “I’m not sure. But we’re here. Might as well go in and see what we can see.” She eyed Amity suspiciously. “Where did you get that key again?”

“I told you, I-“ Amity’s mouth suddenly went dry. She couldn’t tell the twins what she’d gotten the key from. They’d never understand. They’d think she was placing herself in danger. Well, maybe she was- but it was for Luz. It was worth it for Luz. “I found it under the Grom tree. Under a pile of leaves. Just… sitting there.”

Em kept her younger sister under her scrutionius gaze. “I don’t believe you, but okay,” she said.

“Let’s go in. We’re wasting moonlight,” Ed broke in. “Before we know it, the guards will be back.”

“Nerd,” Em whispered to Amity as they entered the room, and Amity giggled.

The room was a wide cavern lit by a few flaming torches that were staggered along the wall at inconsistent intervals. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, and the air was thick with dust. The whole thing felt terribly outdated. Amity felt the hair rise along the back of her neck.

On each of three walls stood a tall bookshelf filled more with cobwebs than books, but the books that were there looked very heavy and very important. One shelf was labeled  _ Savage Age History,  _ another  _ Pre-Coven Magic,  _ and the third  _ Outlawed Magic.  _ The twins made a beeline for the shelves, but Amity’s eyes were drawn past them to the corner of the cavern. Built into the wall was a small and unassuming iron cabinet that was locked right with a huge deadbolt.

Amity stepped towards it.

Carved into the iron door was a message:

_ This cabinet contains highly confidential information regarding powerful, dangerous, and illegal magic. To be opened under explicit permission ONLY.  _

And above it was a sign:

_ Time Spell Archive _

“Hey, Ed?” Amity called over her shoulder. “Can I have the key?” She stretched her hand out behind her and continued examining the cabinet and the heavy lock that kept it shut. 

When she felt a heavy weight drop into her open palm, she drew the key forward with a shaky hand and inserted it into the lock. 

The key slid in smooth as silk.

Her heart raced. She’d done it.  _ This  _ is what she’d been meant to find. Time magic… she was supposed to go back in time and tell Luz how she felt! Of course! It all made sense now.

Unfortunately, so did Grom’s side of the bargain. If Amity failed to tell Luz how she felt, Grom would feed off her fear of Luz’s potentially unrequited feelings and grow strong enough to turn the Boiling Isles into a living nightmare.

She wouldn’t let that happen. She  _ couldn’t  _ let that happen. Not to her home, her family- to  _ Luz’s _ home and  _ Luz’s _ family.

She turned the key, and with an explosion of dust, the door sprang open. 

Inside was a single book. It was a skinny, leatherbound journal, the pages thin and brittle, an insignificant and pitiful looking book to anyone but herself. Perhaps that was part of its power.

Pocketing the key, Amity lifted the book gently out of the cabinet. The title was faded and hard to read in the low light, so Amity created a Luz-style light orb to help her make out the title.  _ Time Magic Simplified.  _ She skimmed the pages. Most of them were filled with technical terms and discussion of the physics of time travel, which Amity barely recognized as English and was not at all interested in reading.  _ Where’s the spell, where’s the spell,  _ she thought, growing more frantic with each heartbeat. She was so close to Luz.  _ There must be something. _

At last, she found what she was looking for, on the very last page of the book- or what was currently the last page, since it appeared that the actual last page had been ripped out.

She drew in a trembling breath. “Em, Ed, c’mere. I think I found something.”

Her siblings instantaneously appeared at her side. “What’s up, Mittens? I’ve just been reading the most interesting book on glyph magic-“ Em began.

“Shh.” Amity cut her off. “I found where the key fits. I found what I’m supposed to do. I’m going back in time.”

Ed let out a cackling laugh. “All this talk about fate and whatnot is pretty weird for you, but time magic? Is that even possible?”

Amity nodded. “The spell’s right here, look.” 

The twins both leaned over to squint at the page the book was open to. “Are you sure that’s not dangerous?” inquired Em. “Because I don’t want to be responsible for-“

“I don’t know if it’s dangerous or not. But I do know that I need to see Luz again. I wasn’t ready to tell her goodbye, and-“

“Wow, you really are in love with her,” Ed muttered.

“-and this is the only way. Anyway, shut up and back away.” Amity held her arms out as indication of where she wanted her siblings to stand. When they were well out of the way, she crouched on the ground and traced a wide circle with one finger, keeping herself in the middle of the glowing ring. She looked down at the book and took a deep breath. 

This was it. 

She began to read the spell out loud.

“ _ To rewind, to rectify, _

_ To try again, to make it right, _

_ Remember now the start of time, _

_ Go back and don’t put out the light.” _

Amity barely had any time to ponder about what a strange spell this was before everything within the circle she’d drawn was swamped in a blinding, vicious glow. 

She didn’t even see her siblings’ terrified faces before everything disappeared.

She didn’t even tell them goodbye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m in love with emira blight lol


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long shdgsgsgxhs the others won’t take that long, i just decided to try out a new style of editing

The light disappeared, and Amity was falling. 

She let out a shriek as she realized she was plummeting towards the leaf-blanketed ground headfirst. Leaves and branches whipped past her at lightning speed before she landed with a dull  _ thud. _ A sharp pain shot up her arm as it collided with the dirt, and she inhaled sharply through her teeth, holding back tears at the stabbing agony.

What a way to make an entrance. 

When the pain finally subsided enough for her to think straight, Amity staggered to her feet and crept forward with her arm cradled to her chest. She knew she was in the woods between Hexside and the Owl House. Would she see Luz here? Her heart leapt to her throat at the prospect. Adorable, sweet, affectionate Luz… 

… who would have no idea who Amity was.

That is, if the spell had worked. She was sure it had- the leaves on the trees were yellow and red, rather than the rich green color they’d sported in the fall when Luz had left. Had Amity really been able to travel back in time? She felt a thrill at the idea. She had to have been the youngest witch to pull off time travel- maybe even the first ever. Even the ancient, powerful feral witches of the past must have had trouble gathering the courage to perform such a drastic act.

But not Amity. She was doing this for Luz, which made it ten times easier. 

“...Besides, your dads are right. There are more opportunities on this track. Now- get to school!”

Amity stopped in her tracks and ducked behind a thick tree truck. When she peered around it, she could make out none other than Luz’s future best friend Willow pacing around the clearing in front of her. Her heart dropped when she saw Willow wearing the orchid uniform of an Abominations student. The sooner Amity could get Willow onto the plant track again, the better. 

Amity’s good hand darted out when she saw that Willow had paced dangerously close to her small purple flower. “Willow! Watch where you’re stepping!”

Willow froze and glanced down at her feet. She narrowly missed stomping on the delicate petals. “Whew. That was close,” she sighed. She looked up at the trees and squinted directly at the tree that Amity was crouched behind. “Is that…?” She let the unspoken name hang in the air between them, her own disbelief thick enough Amity felt like it was choking her.

Keeping her injured arm close, Amity ducked into the clearing. “Hi, Willow.”

“Amity?” Willow’s eyes went wide. She had to have recognized Amity’s voice and only too late did Amity remember that her being nice to Willow was probably setting off multiple alarms in Willow’s mind. “What are you doing here?”

“I… I was just-”

“Is your arm okay?”

“It’s fine.” Amity began to frantically survey the area. Luz  _ had  _ to be around here somewhere. This was where her crush had first met Willow, most likely… when she’d offered to be Willow’s abomination. “Have you, uh… have you seen Luz anywhere?”

Willow narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know anyone named Luz. What’d Boscha put you up to?”

Right. This was the past. “So… sorry, forget I asked. Boscha didn’t… this has nothing to do with Boscha.”

A flash of movement at the far side of the clearing caught Amity’s eye. She got a glimpse of bright purple and deep brown, and instantly her throat went dry. There was no mistaking the frame of the skinny teenager darting around behind the bushes.

Luz was  _ here. _

“Who’s that?” whispered Amity. “Do you see someone back there? In the bushes?”

“I feel like this is a trick,” Willow said. “But I guess I’ll check.” With a flick of her wrist, she summoned a thick vine from under the ground and sent it flying behind her. A moment later it returned, wrapped around Luz’s ankle, and dropped the human with a thump before the two witches.

Willow blinked at Luz’s crumpled form. “Well, I’ll be.”

Amity couldn’t speak as Luz got to her feet. The sight of her alone was enough to bring tears to the back of her eyelids.

“I’m- I’m so sorry,” Luz stammered, brushing dirt off her knees. “You’re probably in the middle of something, I shouldn’t have intruded-” She paused and her eyes landed on Amity, and the hurt arm that was still plastered to Amity’s chest. “Hey, green hair, is your arm okay?”

”Fine. I said it’s fine.” It was hearing Luz’s voice, not the stabbing pain in her wrist, that finally made her cry. “I’ll just get to the healer’s office-”

Luz’s eyes went wide. “Oh, you're crying! You poor thing!” She made a beeline for Amity and took Amity’s forearm gently in her hands. She trailed her fingers across the pale skin before touching Amity’s wrist. “Does that hurt? Did you trip?”

Amity winced, but the pure fire that scorched through her at the contact with Luz dulled the pain. “Just my wrist. I’ll be okay. I, uh… tripped over my… shoe… laces.” She glanced down at her laceless boots and silently cursed the stars that she’d broken her wrist and not her ankle like last time- now didn’t have an excuse to be carried. She supposed this would have to do.

“Wait,” Willow broke in. “The round ears, the strange clothing… you’re a human, aren’t you? Oh my goodness! A real human on the Boiling Isles? I thought they went extinct. This is insane! I’ll have to show you to Augustus!”

Luz covered her ears self-consciously.

“Of course she’s a human,” Amity put in. “But that doesn’t make her any lesser than us. We should treat her with the utmost respect.”

Willow didn’t say anything, but she looked a little put off.

“Well, that’s just the sweetest thing anyone’s told me since I’ve gotten here!” Luz exclaimed. “I’m so glad to meet you two. I’m Luz the human and I’m training to be a witch and I’m just having the  _ best  _ time so far!”

_ Yeah, just wait until you have a showdown with the emperor of the Isles,  _ Amity thought.  _ I bet that’ll be a blast.  _ “I’m Amity. Amity Blight. It’s really nice to meet you, Luz. I… love your hoodie,” she continued awkwardly. “It’s… cute.” If she started flirting now, would Luz like her back sooner? Would Luz like her back at all? Or was her mysterious-jerk-with-a-heart-of-gold persona more alluring?  _ Argh, this is all so complicated! _

Luz grinned and put the hood up over her head, showing off the cat ears she’d attached. “Thanks,  _ meow meow.” _

_ I wish I could tell you how much time I’m going to spend imagining myself wearing that. _

“You two are pretty spiffy yourself,” Luz went on. “Love the… the matching purple thing you’ve got going on. Very… grapey.”

“It’s the school uniform,” Willow sighed. “Oh, that reminds me. I have to keep working on my magic… we’ve got our abominations assessments today. I’m gonna fail.” She cast a dubious expression out of the corner of her eye at Amity. Amity was suddenly very aware of the  _ Top Student  _ badge pinned to her lapel. She wasn’t really sure if she wanted to keep it all day or not.

Now was the time for her to make her first big decision.

She could offer to help Willow with the Abominations project, but if she did, Luz would never see the inside of Hexside, become enthralled with it, and eventually enroll. Of course, she wouldn't get banned either… but Amity knew how to fix that little problem. Would it be simpler to just let time play out? Would Luz still be allowed to study multiple tracks? Would messing with something as powerful as time be too risky? How did the spell even work? Amity had too many questions and, thanks to the noticeably absent weight of the time archive key in her pocket, no way to answer them. 

She took a step forward. “Willow, you won’t fail. I’ll help you with your project.”

Instead of being thankful, Willow seemed… mostly confused, as she’d been up to that point. “Wait, huh? Really?”

Luz frowned. “But Amity, your wrist-”

“I’m ambidextrous.” Amity ignored the way hearing the sound of her name on Luz’s tongue sent all sorts of thrills down her spine. “I’ll be fine.”

She took a step closer to Willow’s wheelbarrow and the giant pot that sat atop it. “Abomination, rise.” The abomination that rose- or, spilled, more like- out of the pot was more like a puddle of sludge than one of her own well-formed and formidable monsters. She drew a quick circle with her good hand while keeping the other close to her chest.

“Now let’s see. We can reshape it there… change that… if we move that around it’ll be  _ much _ more likely to obey you… oh, it needs to be bigger…”

Out of her peripherals she could see that Luz and Willow were both equally astounded at Amity’s clear magical prowess. Luz’s mouth hung agape and her brown eyes shone with admiration. Amity felt a twinge of satisfaction that this was her first impression on Luz instead of whatever their last monstrosity of a meeting had been. (Not to mention, when Luz was excited, she was  _ so adorable.) _ Amity was glad she was turned away from the two of them so that they couldn’t see her blush. 

“And there.” Amity finished the abomination with a flourish. “A perfect project. I made it a little… smaller than mine, so nobody thinks I helped you.” She levitated the lid back onto the pot to keep the abomination in place.

Willow snorted. “They’re probably more likely to believe that I did that all by myself than that you helped me.”

“Wow.” Luz turned to Amity and grinned at her fiercely. “Amity Blight, you are incredible! I’ve really got to go to magic school now. That looks  _ so _ amazing.”

Amity moved her good arm over her face to cover her ever-reddening cheeks. “It’s nice to meet you too-”

Luz continued to gush. “I’m so glad I ran into you guys. You’re both really good at magic, maybe you can help teach me- and- and maybe we could even be… friends? If that’s alright with you, of course!”

“I’d love to be friends with you, Luz,” Willow said slowly.

“You know, if Amity hadn’t been able to help you with your abomination, I might have offered to be your abomination for you. You know, I could be your weird purple goop thing and I could get into your school and see it for myself… I know it sounds crazy, but it might have worked.” Luz shrugged.

“Willow doesn’t have to use that one. It’s just a suggestion,” Amity mumbled. She looked to Willow. Would Willow refuse her help? She had no reason to accept it, not after how horrible Past Amity had been to her.  _ I wish I could take that all back. _

_ Maybe now I can. _

“I don’t really know why you’re helping me,” Willow admitted, “but you did a really great job. I think the one you made will be fine.”

Luz pouted. “But I wanna see inside your school…”

“You can be my abomination,” Amity blurted. Two pairs of eyes turned to her. She realized instantly that she wasn’t really going about her feelings for Luz in the most subtle of ways. 

“Seriously?” Luz asked, stunned.

“If you really want to see inside the school that badly. I mean, I can’t think of a better way to do it. Besides, I’m already the top student… what could it hurt…”

“Wow.” Luz was growing more and more giddy with each second that Amity watched her. “You’re the coolest, Amity! I seriously can't believe I ran into the two of you. I have a feeling you’re gonna make my time here on the Boiling Isles so much better!”

Willow shot Amity a glance as if to say  _ good luck to her for being friends with both of us, _ but Amity ignored her. “I’m glad I ran into you too,” she replied. There was an unspoken weight to the statement that she was sure Luz couldn’t hear. “Let me just grab my…” She glanced around the clearing. “Oh, shoot.”

“Where  _ is _ your abomination?” Willow asked. “Did you leave it in the forest?”

“Um.” Amity reached around to awkwardly scratch the back of her neck. “I’m not sure.”  _ Stupid time travel. _

“Well, we’d better find it!” Luz chirped. “After we get your wrist checked out, of course.” She winked-  _ winked- _ at Amity. “Can’t be your trusty abomination if you’re in too much pain to even go to class.”

Amity blinked dazedly at Luz. “Yeah,” she replied. “I guess not.”

This was going to be one heck of a summer.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a quick note abt how time traveling works here:  
> this is based off a book i’m writing abt a girl who time travels to prevent a breakup and i keep forgetting that nobody else has read it and doesn’t know about the system of time travel i use,,,   
> -but amity will not run into her past self here, she is taking her past self’s place starting at the moment she was thinking abt when she cast the spell (the event that caused luz to be a part of her life)  
> -she didn’t bring her injuries with her, she hurt her wrist when she fell from the sky (unfortunately the spell doesn’t always deposit you at ground level)  
> -she’ll stay in this timeline unless she casts the spell again

“...Now who would like to go next?”

Amity held her breath as the Abominations professor flicked his gaze around the room of students. She spotted Willow looking scared out of the corner of her eye. Luz was in the abomination pot next to Amity’s desk. Fortunately, the three of them had made it to class on time after stopping by the healer’s office to give Amity’s wrist a quick once-over. Just as Amity had expected the healers deemed her wrist to be broken and slapped on a cast and a healing glyph. That, she decided, would be the last time she went gallivanting around with time spells. Even now, when she was supposed to be paying attention to the teacher, her mind kept drifting back to the tender way Luz had been watching her as Amity had been checked over. Luz had looked so concerned. How could she already care about Amity when the two had- for all intents and purposes- just met? Was Amity finally setting herself up for success?

Or would Luz’s deep platonic feelings plague her for the rest of the summer?

“...extra homework for a week. You’ve all got to try harder.”

Of course. Class. Amiy brought herself back to the present (past?) Last time, the professor had picked Willow to be the designated class failure. This time, he’d… probably still pick Willow, but at least now Willow was prepared. Would it be enough for her to earn the Top Student badge? And why didn’t the thought of giving up her rank repulse Amity? 

“How about… Willow?”

Amity could only hope it would be as Willow was traipsed to the front of the class with her cart. She thought the poor girl looked nervous, so she gave her classmate a quick thumbs-up. Willow didn’t seem to notice.

“Abomination, rise.” Willow’s voice shook. The lid of the container slid off and out came Willow’s- or Amity’s, depending- goop monster. It was smaller and a bit more misshapen than Amity’s usual abomination, but it still had a definite form and the flowers and leaves woven into its edges gave it a nice aesthetic touch. It seemed like something Willow would have added, anyway.

It obeyed a few basic commands like lying down and cowering before Willow commanded the lid to close. With each small success, Willow seemed to stand taller and taller.  _ Maybe she really believes she can do this. Maybe it’ll make up for… what I did before. _

By the end of the presentation, several of Amity’s classmates were staring at Willow in awe, and whispers were being passed around the room.

“Is she really the half-witch?”

“Even my abomination isn’t that good!”

“She didn’t cheat, did she?”

“Who would’ve helped her? She doesn’t have any friends.”

Lus peeked her head out from under her lid. “That was really amazing!” she whispered. “Not that I have a frame of reference, but you know.”

Amity, flustered, turned away. “I just did what anyone would have done.”  _ Anyone who wasn’t me, anyway. _

“Good job, Willow,” the professor praised. “You’ve made great improvement from last week. A solid B plus for you.”

Willow ducked her head shyly. “Thank you.”

“And who’s next?” he asked. He surveyed the classroom for a bit, raking his eyes along each possible victim of public humiliation. Amity saw Luz quickly slip the lid back over her head. Surely the professor saw the kids who were zoned out, the kids that were sleeping, and the kids that were still trying to keep their abominations from spilling out of their containers- and yet, despite that all, and much to Amity’s combined relief and nervousness, she was picked instead.

“Amity Blight.”

A swift thumb’s-up stuck itself out of Amity’s huge clay pot.

“My star student. You’re next.”

Amity nodded and stood. She tried to keep her usual air of confidence about her, but as she dragged Luz to the front of the class, her heart began to pound. It was so easy to remember the events of Luz’s previous first visit to Hexside. She’d almost been killed. Now the responsibility to make sure that didn’t happen rested squarely upon Amity’s shoulders, and upon her luck at evading the suspicion of any faculty.

“Abomination, rise.” Amity winced as her voice cracked. On cue, Luz leapt onto the tile floor, splattering the area around Amity’s feet with purple goop. She wasn’t completely coated, and some of the browns from her skin and her hair peeked through, but if this had fooled the class last time surely it would work now. After all, everyone in here was already wrapped around Amity’s little finger.

“Abomination, bow.” It felt strange to command Luz like she was some sort of animal, but Amity supposed it was necessary. When Luz struck a dramatic bow, the class let out a collective gasp.

The professor’s eyes glowed with approval. “Impressive as always, Miss Amity.”

“That’s not all I’ve got.” She faced Luz and quickly thought back to the day when Willow presented Luz as her own work. What had Luz said to Willow? Hadn’t it been something really cute? Did Amity just want to hear Luz say something cute again? Probably. “Abomination, speak.”

Luz blinked at her for a moment, dumbfounded, but then stumbled over to Amity and threw her arm around the other girl’s shoulder. The purple goop on her arm felt cold and alien against the back of Amity’s neck, but it was  _ Luz. _ Amity would welcome any contact.

“I may be abominable,” Luz joked, “but you’re  _ adorable!” _

All the blood in Amity’s face rushed to her cheeks. “Oh, that’s so sweet,” she muttered. She realized that the class was staring at her, watching her as she presented. They’d probably see her blushing. Which would they find weirder, Amity blushing over a human or Amity blushing over an abomination? She didn’t know which option was worse.

“How cute, Miss Amity,” praised the professor. He painted a red A-plus on Luz’s forehead. “A bit different than your usual style, but I like it. You’ll remain the top student.”

Amity froze and dropped her hands from where they were poised to remove her Top student badge. “But Willow… she improved so much. Shouldn’t  _ she  _ be the top student now?”

“No.  _ You  _ are my top student. Willow still has a long way to go before she could earn that title.”

From where she was sitting back at her desk, Willow seemed to shrink into her chair. 

“Perhaps if she could pull off something like you, Amity…” the professor mused.

Amity pulled Luz back to her desk and deposited her there. Then, unhooking the badge, Amity held it in the palm for a moment, feeling the cold metal against her pale skin one more time. Maybe it wasn’t within her  _ social standing _ to give up the most powerful title that could be bestowed upon a freshman like her, but it wasn’t within her new moral standing, either. “Here,” she said stiffly, marching over to Willow’s table and holding that badge out to the other witch. “You deserve this.”  _ I’m sorry,  _ she thought, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words out loud.

Willow gingerly took the badge and turned it over in her hands for a moment. When she glanced back up at Amity, her green eyes were brimming with confusion. “Thanks, Amity?”

Amity shrugged. “Maybe your skills don’t lie in abominations, but that doesn’t mean you don’t work hard. You deserve it.”

When she turned to head back to her own desk, she saw Luz’s curious gaze peeking out at her from underneath her lid. Face flushing red, she averted her eyes.

~

“What an exciting day!” Luz chirped. “I’ve totally got to convince Eda to let me go to school there, because WOW.”

After a few more long classes, school had ended and Amity was now walking through the forest with Luz and Willow by her side. Luz, her clothes still stained with purple goo, was recounting the events of the day animatedly, from her successful presentation to her instant love of Hexside’s cafeteria food. (“They didn’t have anything like this back home!” she’d gushed. “I‘m not sure if that was even food!”)

Amity chuckled. “Was it fun sitting in the pot all day?”

“It was an experience.”

“It would probably be a better one if you could actually walk around and take classes like a normal student,” Willow put in. She’d been mostly silent on their walk back to Amity’s house, and Amity couldn’t help but wonder if she was still befuddled by the uncharacteristic kindness she’d been shown. She’d never put the badge on and instead opted to put it in her pocket. Amity hadn’t wanted to make such a drastic change to time as she knew it so early in her travels, but she felt far too impatient (and guilty) to be slow about making amends with Willow.

Luz rolled her eyes. “I’ll see what I can do, but Eda’s a stickler about ‘being wild’ and ‘using magic the way it was meant to be used’ but  _ come on,  _ it’s  _ my  _ weird summer vacation and I can learn what I want.”

“Good thing the semester’s ending next week. Maybe you can join after summer break,” suggested Willow.

Amity shuddered.  _ Great. I forgot I have to take those finals again. _

“That’d be amazing,” Luz sighs. A wistful, warm smile creeps onto her adorable features. “I could learn to make potions, and ride griffons, and see the future, and control plants…”

Willow shook her head. “Sorry, that’s not how it works. You can only choose one of those things to do.” She picked at the orchid sleeve of her uniform. “Like how my dads wanted me to do Abominations even though I’m much better at plants.”

“Oh, I’ll find a way to learn everything,” Luz promised. Amity admired her crush’s determination. Luz really had known what she’d wanted from the beginning, hadn’t she?

“Plus you need to pass an entrance exam,” Amity butted in. She figured she’d give Luz a few weeks of warning before the mountain incident that would (hopefully) lead to Luz learning the ice spell. If Luz entered Hexside knowing even more than two spells, it’d most likely be even easier and quicker for her to switch to an all-track course of study. “You have to know two spells.” She didn't bother to ask Luz how many spells she did know. The poor thing didn’t need that embarrassment.

“I’ll be fine. Eda’s a good teacher,” Luz said breezily. 

A buzzing sound distracted the three girls, and Willow stopped in her tracks. “Aw, shucks,” she muttered. She reached into her pocket and drew out her scroll. “It’s my dads. They want me home now so I can help them make dinner. It’s so unfair,” she added under her breath. Amity had to prick her ears to make out what the other witch was saying. “They send me to the abominations track and call me home early so I can grow them some asparagus to go with their spagorey and meatballs? It’s like they’re  _ blind _ !” 

“You got this, Willow! You grow that asparagus!” Luz cheered.

“I guess I don’t have a choice.” Pocketing her scroll, Willow leaned in to give Luz a quick hug. “It was nice meeting you! I can’t wait to be friends. Remind me to introduce you to Augustus later,” she said. “He’d get a kick out of you.” 

When she pulled back, she took a step towards Amity and froze. For a moment it seemed like she’d go in for a goodbye hug with Amity as well, but after a long heartbeat passed Willow turned and dashed off in the opposite direction. 

Now Amity stood alone with Luz for the first time since Luz had left. Maybe it would have been awkward if Amity’s entire mind wasn’t occupied with thoughts of simultaneously wanting to kiss Luz into oblivion and wanting to angrily sob at her for leaving. Too bad neither of those behaviors were socially acceptable among strangers.

_ Strangers.  _ That word hurt.

“Sooo,” Luz prompted, tearing Amity out of her daydreams. “Willow acts super weird around you. What’s up with that?”

“Nothing.” Amity began to pick at the cast on her wrist. “Anyway, I-“

Luz scooted a few inches closer and brushed their shoulders together. “Are you sure? We’re friends now! You can tell me anything.” She mimed zipping her lips, and Amity, flustered, groaned. 

_ I thought we were supposed to save this for our epic, life-changing trip into Willow’s memories.  _ “Okay, fine. Maybe I haven’t always been very nice to Willow but it’s only because my parents are stupid- don’t you dare tell them I said that, by the way, they’d kill me- and I know that doesn’t excuse my behavior but I’m trying really hard to make it right now, and that has to count for something.” She shut her mouth when she realized she was about to go off on a tangent. She couldn’t overwhelm Luz like this so early. Then they’d never be friends, and they’d certainly never be…

“Go figure. I wouldn’t have ever pinned you for a bully, Amity Blight. That means you must be making a lot of progress!” Luz laid a comforting hand on Amity’s shoulder. 

Amity flinched but soon relaxed at the touch. “Sorry,” she muttered. “I just-“

Luz drew her hand away. “It’s okay. Can- can I hug you before I go?” Amity nodded, and when she felt Luz’s arms wrap themselves around her, she felt herself truly relax for the first time in days. Just as she remembered, their forms fit together like two pieces of the same puzzle. Luz’s fist curled itself onto the back of Amity’s neck, and Amity tightly clenched the back of Luz’s hoodie.

_ Please never let go,  _ she begged silently.  _ I never want to see a world without you again. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if u leave comments i will love u forever!! every comment helps me get the next chapter done faster


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK U ALL FOR THE COMMENTS ON THE LAST CHAPTER🥺🥺🥺 I KNOW I DIDNT REPLY TO THEM BUT I READ THEM ALL. OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND O

To an outsider, seeing Blight Manor for the first time was an unforgettable experience. The mansion stuck out like a sore thumb among the surrounding Bonesbourough, especially the clawlike central spire that stretched towards the sky. Even from the street a person could see the epic stained glass windows that lined the top and the strange red moss that crawled up the ancient brick exterior.

But for Amity, toiling up the long entrance path after a tiring day at school, it was routine.

She actually hated how big the house was; once she entered, it took her several minutes just to climb up two stories and find her room. And even in such a huge house her bedroom was sandwiched right between her twin siblings’. Some nights it was hard to get to sleep with the racket their mock battles and over-the-top illusion spells made. Nearly nightly Amity would find herself covering her ears with her pillow and wondering why Edric and Emira had to practice their magic so loudly. (She blamed the AP Illusions classes they were taking this semester.) Soon, though, she’d have distracted herself. Thoughts and daydreams that mostly involved Luz would dance through her mind and lull her to sleep.

After Luz had gone her separate way, Amity had stayed in the forest, leaned against a tree, and shut her eyes, quickly losing herself in thought. Contemplating calmed her. She knew she had a lot to deal with- more than a standard witch would be able to deal with. But she wasn’t a standard witch. She was talented, and she knew she could nip this time-travel thing right in the bud. She’d tried her best to come up with a stable plan for guaranteed girlfriend-getting success but she found that this timeline was just as confusing as the last. Who knew how much she’d unknowingly change things just by possessing knowledge of the future?

Now, as dusk was creeping over the spire of the mansion Amity stood outside the manor’s huge double door and waited. She didn’t have a key to get in (her parents didn’t trust her with the ability to enter the house while they were gone… something about discouraging her or the twins from going out and “partying”) so she was stuck pulling her cowl down around her upper arms to keep the wind chill out. Any minute now her parents would appear at the front window…

And speak of the Titan. At that instant there was a loud creak as the door was pushed open. Looking up, Amity was met with the steely golden eyes of her father, Alador. A pang of anger shot through her chest. Every time she saw him, she was overwhelmed with disgust at how much she looked like him. She hated that he bore almost no resemblance to her twin siblings. She hated that they shared the same bright eyes and the same prodigious magical talent and, occasionally, the same hair color (though the alternative wasn’t much better). 

“Amity,” her father growled. “You’re late.”

Amity gulped.

“As you can see, it’s already dusk.” Alador pointed up at the red-orange sky. His steely eyes didn’t leave his daughter’s. “Where have you been?” Be looked down at her wrist, bound in a cast. “You’ve been so irresponsible that you e hurt yourself?”

“In the woods,” Amity tried. “Studying. And I just... tripped earlier. While I was taking my abomination to school.”

Alador nodded. “Funny you should say that about studying.”

“Why?”

He avoided the question. “Why don’t you come inside? You’ll catch your  _ death _ of a cold out here. Cold winds seem to be blowing in from the Skeletal Sea tonight.” Alador’s tone was less than inviting, and Amity’s heart hammered her chest as she crept past him and into the manor’s lobby, slouching under the weight of her book bag. She’d reached the bottom of the staircase when Alador spoke again.

“Bodhia called me today.”

Freezing, Amity silently begged her heart to stop pounding so loudly. Surely even the twins could hear it from their bedroom. “Oh?” she asked, trying her best to sound nonchalant, though she knew it wouldn’t work, especially in front of her father. 

“Boscha saw you in the woods while she was walking home from school.”

_ With Luz? Please, stars… _

“You were sitting on the ground, and your head was buried in your arms, and according to Boscha, you were crying very loudly.”

_ Oh. _ Amity’s throat went dry and she found herself unable to respond.  _ That’s not the worst case scenario, but that’s still… bad. _

Alador raised one perfectly manicured eyebrow. “Care to explain what made you so upset?”

“Not really,” Amity whispered.

“Miss Amity.” Alador took one threatening step towards his daughter. Amity backed up against the banister and curled one arm around it. She fixed her eyes at the ground, avoiding Alador’s gaze like it was the Islean Plague.

“I need to finish my homework. Finals week is coming up-”

“You have all night. I think it’s time you and I had a little  _ heart to heart  _ conversation about what it means to be a Blight.”

An unexpected flash of rage pierced Amity’s heart. In any  _ normal _ family, this was the part where Alador would sit her down and help her sort through her emotions with gentle words and soft praise. If this were a  _ normal _ family, her father would open up his arms and Amity would melt into his embrace. Then, he’d curl his arms around her back and hold her until her sorrow had ceased. If this were a  _ normal  _ family, she wouldn’t have to hide her friendship with Luz in the first place.

But they weren’t a normal family. They were the  _ Blight _ family. Amity had no choice but to deal with her frigid and unsupportive father, because Amity was a Blight.

And she hated herself for it.

“No.”

Alador recoiled. “Excuse me?” He grimaced, and Amity could see his fangs.

She drew away from the banister and straightened her back. “I said no.” A strange sense of strength flooded her limbs, and she felt invigorated in a way she never had before.  _ This is for Luz. This is for  _ me. “I don’t have to tell you anything,” she said bravely.

Her father's eyes flashed with anger, bright and cold. “Miss Amity, that is no way to address your father.”

Amity shrugged. “It is now.” Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a flash of movement at the top of the stairs. There was no mistaking the forest-green hair and sky-blue sleeves of her siblings. Amity silently thanked the stars. Before Alador could make a lunge toward her, she spun on her heels and made a dash up the stairs.

Edric and Emira were waiting for her around the corner of the hallway, and as soon as they saw her, Emira grabbed her by the upper arm and they hurried down the hallway and towards her bedroom. “Lucky we saw you!” Emira whispered. She, too, noticed the cast. “Is your hand okay?” Amity managed a shaky nod.

The two girls ducked into Amity’s room and Ed followed close behind, closing the door. Amity collapsed on her bed. She pressed her face into her pillow and curled herself up into a ball, hoping that if she was small enough she’d just disappear.

She felt a weight settle down by her side, and her hand fell on her shoulder. “Not now, Em,” she grumbled. “Just leave me alone.”

“But we just heroically saved you, Mittens,” Em said.

Ed sat himself down on Amity’s other side. “We just want to make sure our favorite baby sister is okay!”

“Yeah, right.” Amity lifted her head and glared at the twins. “Just ‘cuz I don’t want to talk to Dad doesn’t mean I want to talk to you.” 

“But you can tell us anything,” Em replied breezily.

“Unless it’s funny, then we’ll totally tell all your friends-”

Em shot Ed a glare, and he shut up. “I think what Edric is  _ trying  _ to say is that we will gladly be your confidants if something is bothering you,” she explained. “We are your only real allies, after all.”

“We heard Dad yelling at you for crying,” Ed put in. “Yeesh. Who yells at their own kid for  _ crying?” _

“Most of them wouldn’t.”

“But Dad isn’t most parents.”Amity’s tone was bitter. “He’s the  _ worst  _ kind of parent.”

“Were you really crying out in the woods?” Em asked.

Amity hesitated. She hadn’t really remembered crying- but as soon as Alador had mentioned it to her she’d realized it seemed plausible. As soon as she’d sunk against the trunk of that tree she’d been overcome with a tidal wave of emotions, some- okay, most- not good ones. At that moment, it had finally sunk in exactly what she’d done. She’d used a rare, powerful, and potentially dangerous time spell to take herself back three months and win Luz over once and for all. Even now, surrounded by her family, she felt more alone than ever. None of them knew what was happening. She couldn’t even tell Luz. She’d have to bear the weight of her knowledge on her shoulders alone. 

Unless, that is, she  _ didn’t _ have to.

She decided to answer Em’s question indirectly. “How much do you guys know about time magic?”

There was a brief silence that seemed to stretch for eons. “Uh,” Ed said helpfully after a moment. “That it’s not real?”

Em nodded. “It’s never been recorded, anyway. Why do you ask?”

“Because…” Amity fumbled for words and silently cursed herself for asking at all.  _ Good going, Blight. Now they’re going to think you’re a nutcase, and they’ll send you off to the Conformatorium, and Luz will never think to rescue you.  _ “I just- I think it is real. I think it is possible.”

Ed was clearly trying to hold back a giggle. Em, though, was still trying to keep her composure serious, and her voice was level as she asked Amity another question. “What does that have to do with you being upset?”

“Are you a time traveler?” Ed snickered. “Are you here to warn us about an epic witch war in the distant future or something? Sign me up! Anything to get me out of school!”

Amity sniffed. “Actually, I’m from October eighteenth.”

Now both siblings were regarding her with silent, amused curiosity, and a moment later both siblings burst out into raucous laughter. “A time traveler!” Ed wheezed as Em brushed a tear from the corner of her eye. “Mittens, you crack me up. Are you kidding with us or did you hit your head on the way home from school?”

“I’m not kidding!”Amity insisted. “I just really needed to tell someone what’s going on. When I was out in the woods- I got really overwhelmed by my thoughts. The future is really upsetting and I don’t know how to stop it.”

“Waitwaitwaitwait.” Ed inhaled sharply and quelled his laughter long enough to talk to Amity. “So let me get this straight. You’re a time traveler. From October. As in four-months-from-now October. Is there an apocalypse in October?”

“No-”

“A deadly plague?”

“No, it’s-”

“Murderous stinging insects the size of your hand that invade the Isles and destroy life as we know it?”

“No!”Amity forced herself to her feet and backed away from her bed. Ed and Em were staring at her now. Their eyes were round as if they thought they were watching their sister go insane. “No,” Amity repeated, calmer this time. She shut her eyes for a moment and allowed herself to breathe.  _ In and out. In and out. It’ll be okay. _

“I know you think I’m crazy, but I’m telling the truth. There’s a book on time magic at the public library-”

“Where?” the twins shouted in unison.

“- and I’m not going to tell you where, because then you might try to find it and even though you probably wouldn’t get to it, you’d certainly try, and you’d get yourselves in a lot of trouble. I don’t need to have been to the future to know that. Anyways, I was sent back here, and I… it’s a lot for me to take in. I didn’t think it was possible either. But I found the spell, and I cast it, and now I’m here. So I guess it is real.”

“That,” Em said, “is the most epic thing you’ve ever done.”

“If you did really do it,” Ed added.

“You could dunk me in truth serum and I’d say the same thing.”

Ed held both his hands up. “So let’s say, hypothetically-maybe-possibly, that you really are a time traveler from the near future, and you’ve been sent back to June to right some terrible wrong. Exactly what wrong would that be?”

Amity’s mind drifted back to Grom’s threat. That encounter seemed like a million years ago now. Some of it was fuzzy in her mind… something about fear, and… the end of the world… but Amity would never let Grom win. It didn’t matter what that stupid amorphous idiot blob had said. She’d win Luz back, and her terror at never seeing Luz again would cease. So really, she had no reason to mention Grom to her siblings.

Plus mentioning to anyone that you might have sent a deadly and powerful nightmare monster loose was probably not the best idea.

“I can’t tell you,” Amity said. “But you’ll figure it out soon enough.”

Ed crossed his arms stubbornly. “If you don’t tell me, I won’t believe you.”

Amity shrugged. “Fine. I’ll deal with this problem on my own, then, without your help. Guess you’ll just have to leave your poor sister helpless.”

Em opened her mouth, hesitated, and brushed Amity’s shoulder reassuringly. “I believe you,” she said. “A little bit.”

_ I guess that’s better than nothing. _

Amity glanced at Ed. “What do you say? Do you promise to not think I’m crazy? And can you  _ please  _ not say anything to Mom and Dad so that I have a chance of actually making it all the way to October?”

Ed drew a spell-circle around his wrist. “It’s an oath. Whether you turn out to just be crazy or not.”

Her siblings’ loyalty was reassuring, but there was still a twinge of nervousness within Amity’s chest. How much was she changing the future by meddling in the past? How many disastrous consequences that she was unaware of was she meddling with?

She took a deep breath and claimed herself.

No matter what, she couldn’t show fear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> help an exhausted high school student out by leaving a comment? :D
> 
> next up: covention!


	6. Chapter 6

A blast of white magic shot by Amity and scorched the grass behind her, and she leapt to the side to narrowly avoid being hit. “Watch out, Luz!” she called.

Luz grinned sheepishly and kicked dirt over the massive light glyph she’d drawn in the ground. “Sorry!”

“It’s okay. Maybe that’s enough for one day.” Though they’d only been practicing together for two hours, Luz (with Amity’s help) had quickly been able to figure out how to draw ice and fire glyphs, so she was weeks ahead of schedule. “You've got more than two spells now, so you should be all set for your entrance exam.”

Luz pouted.  _ “If  _ Eda ever enrolls me.”

“She will.” Amity hoped she didn’t sound  _ too  _ convinced.

In the two weeks that had passed since Amity had revealed her secret to the twins, she’d spent most of her time attempting to strengthen the bond between her and Luz- and by extension, her and Willow. Amity wasn’t a solid part of Luz’s friend group yet by any means, but she spent plenty of time with Luz one-on-one. Even Willow seemed to have developed a grudging respect for her. She still felt a bit of guilt over the fact that she’d been unable to help Willow get into the plant track thus far, but she reminded herself that Willow didn’t know any different, and there would be plenty of chances to help Willow  _ without  _ endangering all of Hexside.

“That sounds like a good idea, though,” Luz said. “Maybe we should get a snack or something. I bet I could whip something up! I don’t know what any of the ingredients in Eda’s kitchen actually are, so what could go wrong? Just gotta mix stuff together…”

Amity pictured the jars of eyeballs, tongues, and otherwise unidentifiable substances she’d seen in the Owl House before, and felt her stomach do a backflip. “No, thanks.”

Luz shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She continued to prattle off ideas on how they should spend their remaining free time as Amity followed Luz inside. “Maybe I could show you this cool thing I have called YouTube,” she went on. “It’s this awesome app on my phone where I can watch videos about cats and people debunking Azura theories and compilations of people lip syncing to pop music while in cosplay…”

Of course, Amity already knew what YouTube was, but the thought of spending the rest of the morning watching videos with Luz was enough to make her blush. They’d have to sit together on the couch, and lean in close to each other,  _ possibly close enough to touch _ , in order to see Luz’s tiny phone screen… she wasn’t sure she could handle that before it was even noon.

The house seemed strangely silent as she stepped into the living room. “Where is everyone?”

“Eda and King went to the market just before you got here.” Luz sat on the couch and patted the space next to her, clearly intending for Amity to join her. “Usually I go with them, but since you were coming over to help me train, Eda let me stay behind.”

As soon as Amity sat down, Luz pulled out her phone, and Amity’s stomach fluttered.  _ I guess we’re doing this.  _ Then she silently scolded herself.  _ You’re still at  _ least _ a few inches apart. Keep it together. _

She was scarcely aware of the way Luz brushed their arms together when she pulled her YouTube up. It was nothing compared to, say, dancing at Grom or getting carried to the healer’s office after the grudgby match with Boscha, but it was still  _ something.  _ Every time Luz’s skin touched hers she swore she could feel a current of electricity run through her entire body.

They sat like that for a while, scrolling through pointless videos. Amity especially loved the ones of cats. (Human-realm cats were so  _ weird! _ Where was their firebreath?) She would have loved to stay there forever, so tantalizingly close to Luz, but halfway through a video of something Luz called a “tick tock” the door to the Owl House swung open with a bang on the wall. Amity winced when Hooty’s shriek pierced her eardrums.

“Jeez, at least say hello! Hoot!”

Eda was the first inside, King pattering along at her heels. She didn’t acknowledge Amity, just threw off her hood and nodded to Luz. “I’ve got an entourage,” she said grimly. “Watch out.”

Following the Owl Lady were Luz’s  _ actual _ friend group, Gus and Willow, who were both yelling something unintelligible over each other and carrying suspiciously familiar-looking flyers. Luz leapt up to meet them, and they instantly crowded her, waving the flyers in her face. Amity remained on the couch and tried to suppress a twinge of jealousy. There would be plenty of chances for quality time with Luz later.

“Guys!” Luz exclaimed. “It’s so nice to see you!”

“They were the only two people at the entire market,” Eda told her. “Turns out there’s a covention today, so everyone is off doing exceptionally counterproductive things there instead of giving  _ me _ money. Naturally, they wanted to see you and invite you to get brainwashed by the Emperor's Coven-”

Luz took one of the flyers and held it out at arms length. “A job fair for witches!” she gasped. She looked at Eda and made puppy-dog eyes that made Amity melt. “Can we go? Pleasepleasepleaseplease?”

Eda snorted. “Absolutely not. I’m not having my student brainwashed into giving up what little magical ability she has so she can go prance around with  _ good Covened witches.” _ Only then did she seem to notice Amity. “Hey,” she asked. “Why aren’t you over there? Seems like your kind of place. The order, the pretentiousness…”

_ Oh, no!  _ Amity, frozen in shock, couldn’t reply. _ I was supposed to meet Lilith this morning before the covention! I haven’t seen her since I- got here, and it slipped my mind… _

Fortunately, Luz answered for her. “She came over to help me practice magic. But I bet that if you let me go, she’d come with us…”

King leapt onto the coffee table. “Take me with you!” he shouted, sticking his furry paws in the air. “They’ll see me and instantly bow to my might, and all the covens of the Boiling Isles will be under my control!” Then he yelped, unbalancing himself and toppling forward. 

Eda shrugged. “Sorry. No is no. I’m not going to relive all those awful memories from when we were girls-“

Luz’s eyes lit with delight. “ _ We? _ Eda, you have a tragic backstory?”

“Not any more tragic than yours.”

“You  _ have  _ to tell me.” A lightbulb went off over Luz’s head. “What if we go to the covention and we meet the mysterious witch that made your childhood horrible? I’ll tell you about my tragic backstory if you tell me about yours!” She took a deep breath. “Actually, no, I should just tell you now, because it’s more fun that way. Okay, so when I was in sixth grade-”

“That’s already enough of that,” Eda muttered.

“-I was in PE class and we were playing kickball and it was my turn to go up to the base and so I did and eeeeveryone was watching me and I thought I was gonna pass out I was so nervous so then the ball rolled toward me and-”

“And then you set it on fire!” King cheered.

“Then-” Luz paused and glanced at King. Amity stifled a laugh. “No, King I didn’t set it on fire. But you know what? I  _ did  _ learn a fire spell today.” She flashed a blindingly white smile at Amity and Amity thought she might choke and pass out right then and there. “All thanks to Amity. So I could hypothetically set a ball on fire now.”

“I only helped,” Amity protested, blushing. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Luz waved her hand dismissively. “Anyways, I was standing there, waiting for the ball to roll towards me, and my brain was going AAAAAAAAAAA-”

“Make it stop,” moaned Eda.

“-AAAAA and then when the ball finally did come toward me and I kicked it but I missed and fell flat on my face and everyone laughed and I never had any friends again. The end.”

“That’s actually kind of sad,” Willow said.

“Oh, the tragedy.” Eda rolled her eyes. “Okay, will you stop screaming and telling those annoying stories in that annoyingly cute voice of yours if I take you and your cute little friend here to the covention?”

“Absolutely!” Luz beamed. She risked a glance over at Amity. “I mean, if you want to come, of course.”

_ You’re lucky it’s you. Lilith’s gonna have it out for me for missing our practice session. _ “I’d love to go with you.”

“Fine.” Eda heaved a sigh. “Hey, Owlbert? How many people do you think you can hold on your back at once?”

~

“So become the best- join the Emperor’s Coven!”

Applause burst out at Lilith’s introduction, and Amity shrunk back into her seat, hoping desperately that her mentor wouldn’t see her. They were supposed to meet at Blight Manor earlier that morning for a last minute training session, in case Lilith decided to show her protege off on stage as a demonstration of the Emperor's Coven’s power. (Of course, that hadn’t happened last time, thanks to the impromptu duel.) Luz was bothering Eda about her teacher’s defensive body language whenever Lilith showed off, so Amity ignored her crush and looked straight ahead, hoping to blend in. It was a little hard to do with bright teal hair, though. Thankfully, she eventually made it through the entire panel. With each fancy demonstration of magic, the pit in her stomach grew and grew. They were clearly just showing off. Their egos must have been bigger than their bile sacs. How had Amity ever wanted to be a part of this coven, now that she knew what Lilith had done to Eda?  _ Stars, am I going to have to prevent that too? _

When the five witches crept out of the auditorium doors after the panel ended, Amity was almost certain that they were safe from any run-ins with Lilith. Her relief was short-lived, though, because just in front of the Illusionists’ Coven booth, a steely voice stopped the group short.

“Fancy seeing you here, Edalyn. It’s been, what… thirty years?”

Amity could have sworn her heart stopped beating for a moment. 

Eda whirled around and sneered at her sister. “Lilith.”

“And Amity.” Lilith practically purred, approaching Amity and settling a hand under her young student’s chin. Her pale skin felt like ice. Amity jerked back. She couldn’t even bear to meet Lilith’s eyes anymore. Lilith might have been nearing redemption in Amity’s native time, but here she was no different than the witch who had cursed Luz’s mentor. The witch who had put Luz in unfathomable danger. The witch who had nearly killed Luz herself.

_ I know what you did to Eda,  _ she thought. She longed to venomously spit the words out at Lilith herself, but she knew that by doing so she’d be endangering Luz.

“It’s too bad you couldn’t make it to practice this morning,” Lilith went on. 

“I was studying for finals with my friend… my friend Boscha,” Amity replied. She tried her best to keep her voice steady. Even so, she felt Luz’s questioning gaze burning into the back of her head, and she stumbled on her words.

“That’s funny. When Odalia and Alador recommended I stop by her house to fetch you, you were nowhere to be found.” Lilith raked her eyes along Eda, Luz, Willow, and Gus. “And now you're here, running around with two half-formed witchlings, a human, and my wanted criminal of a sister. Is that what your parents would want you to be doing?”

Eda scowled. “She’s  _ my  _ human, and she’s an excellent student!”

“Sister?” Luz squawked. She seemed to take no offense at  _ human  _ being used as an insult towards her. Perhaps she was already used to it.

Amity ducked her head. “Please don’t tell my parents.”

Lilith turned to face Eda with an icy stare. “It’s not my job to tell your parents anything. However… it is my job to find and rehabilitate covenless witches.”

“Rehabilitate!” Eda spat. She laughed mirthlessly. “What am I, a misbehaving dog?”

“Hey!” King shouted. He stood by Eda’s feet, draped in T-shirts and other cheap-looking coven memorabilia. Amity had forgotten for a moment that the tiny demon was there.

“Join the Emperor's Coven, sister.” Lilith’s voice was almost pleading now. “We have use for your magic. And we could even-”

- _ heal the curse, _ Amity finished silently. Only she and Lilith knew how untrue that was.

“Hang on,” Eda interrupted. “So this is just about how much you want to join your stupid coven. Ah. I see. Well, how about this.” Her voice dropped dangerously low. “You can take me by force, if you can beat me.” Her eyes glimmered with cunning, and instantly Amity knew what was about to happen. “Lilith Clawthorne, I challenge you to a witches’ duel.”

Lilith paused. She spent a moment considering Eda’s proposition that seemed to last for centuries. “Okay,” she said at last. “One one condition. I think I know of a good way to turn this into a learning experience.”

Amity exchanged nervous glances with Luz.  _ We’re the ones learning here,  _ Amity thought.  _ Is she- _

“Amity.” Facing her student, cold green eyes met warm golden ones. “How would you like to participate in your very first witches’ duel- against Eda’s new student?”

  
  
  
  



	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one was my favorite to write so far :D

The horrified expression that encapsulated Luz’s features was enough to make Amity’s heart shatter. She braced herself to intercept her mentor, but before she could move a muscle, Eda was in front of her, the palm of her hand pressed against the bottom of Lilith’s neck. 

“Putting my student in danger to benefit your own agenda is a coward’s move,” the Owl Lady spat.

Lilith stared impassively at Eda. A slight smirk played on her lips as she answered. “Any work done in the field of magic is dangerous. It’s not my fault that you decided to take on a fragile human for a student.”

“And it’s not my student’s fault that she’s a fragile human!” Eda shot back. “She’s been working very hard these past couple weeks. She already knows three spells!”

Amity glanced at Luz, and from the blank expression on her crush’s face, it seemed like Luz didn’t know whether to be proud or offended.

“Three spells,” Lilith scoffed. “She’d barely make the baby class at Hexside. She’d be no match for my protege, really. But would it be better if I had to go against  _ you? _ I know the curse has left you a shell of your former self, Edalyn.”

Amity watched Luz’s eyes for any spark of alarm, but Luz remained startingly impassive.  _ She must already know about the curse,  _ Amity realized.

“Even with the curse I’m stronger than you have ever been,” Eda growled. 

Luz sidled towards Amity. “I don’t think I can watch our teachers… tear each other apart like that,” murmured the human. A chill seemed to strike her, and she shivered.

Amity’s heart swelled with sorrow. “I know. But we have to let them. I could never fight you.”

Luz glanced at Amity. “I could never fight you, either,” she whispered, and for a moment, while their faces were mere inches apart, the sound of their mentors’ argument faded into the background, and Amity once again lost herself in Luz’s kind brown eyes. 

A small corner of her mind whispered to her to close the distance.  _ That’s ridiculous, _ she scolded herself.  _ Luz has only known you for two weeks, and Eda’s life could be on the line if we don’t figure out what to do! _ So, she shook her head and tore herself away from Luz’s captivating gaze. “I just wish there was a way to save her,” Amity muttered.

“Me too.”

“If you would just join the coven already, we wouldn’t have to fight at all,” Lilith was saying. Eda had drawn back, and was now standing protectively in front of King, who was grasping Eda’s leg tightly. Willow and Gus were nowhere to be seen. Amity didn’t blame them for running off. It was taking most of her strength to stand and watch the argument, but she knew she needed to do  _ something _ to save Luz and her teacher. 

She thought back to the last covention. Both Eda and Lilith had cheated, meddling in their students’ duel in a way that was entirely illegal and definitely under Lilith’s usual standing. Lilith must have known that she was no match for her sister.  _ That must be why she wants Luz and I to fight- she knows that I could beat Luz with a wave of my finger.  _

_ If we let Eda and Lilith fight by themselves, someone could get hurt. _

_ But if Luz and I fight, we already know how it would turn out… _

“Stop,” Amity blurted. Both sisters turned to look at her. She swallowed. Was this really a good idea? She’d barely had any time to consider the nuances of the plan. She had only a vague idea of what was going to happen, and whether it was actually going to work or not was another question entirely. Was she putting herself and Luz in even more danger?

“We’ll do it,” Amity continued, voice shaking. “Luz and I will duel for you.”

“You will?” Eda and Lilith exclaimed. 

Luz’s expression morphed from fear to shock in an instant. “ _ We _ will?”

Amity nodded. “We will. Lilith, Eda, we’ll be waiting inside the auditorium in an hour.” She made her way to Luz and leaned over to whisper in her friend’s ear. “Don’t worry. I have a plan. Come with me and I’ll tell you what we’ll do…”

~

An hour later, the auditorium was packed to the brim with spectators waiting for the duel between the students of two of the most infamous witches on all of the Boiling Isles. It had taken a while for Amity to solidify the plan of attack with Luz, but once she had, she was far more confident in its chance of success. Plus, Luz’s boundless determination was contagious, and as long as Luz felt self-assured, Amity felt self-assured too.

Now Amity and Luz stood at opposite edges of the sandy arena, waiting for the duel to begin. Though her heart felt like it could pound out of her chest, Amity forced herself to calm down and examine the arena as closely as possible. It’d be integral to her plan. Now that she was looking for them, it was much easier for Amity to make out the strange lumps of sand scattered across the stage. Even now it wasn’t above Eda to cheat, she mused. Of course, neither was Lilith. The construction glyph was definitely stuck to the back of Amity’s neck. She’d felt Lilith slip it on just as they’d entered the side door into the arena, and she wondered how she hadn’t noticed it last time, with its uncomfortably sticky texture and the way it made her neck feel stiff.

Luz hadn’t asked why Amity knew that Eda was going to booby-trap the duel, and she hadn’t seemed to wonder how Amity had presumably snuck in and watched Eda place the traps herself. She’d simply hung on to every word of the Amity’s plan, and when they’d sorted out the details, she’d nodded briskly and- much to Amity’s panic-slash-delight, taken both her friend’s hands in a show of solidarity and didn’t let go of them for several seconds.

Now they watched each other from several yards away, waiting for their signal to fight.

“Beloved citizens,” Lilith began from where she stood at her student’s side. “The Emperor's Coven proudly presents an impromptu demonstration from two of the Isles’ youngest magic students.” Amity noticed that this time around she hadn’t been referred to as “the sort of witch the coven seeks every year”... did that have something to do with being caught associating with Luz?  _ Not that I care anymore. I don’t want anything to do with this group of the Emperor's monsters. _

Even across the stage Amity saw Luz tense up with nervousness. She longed with every fiber in her body to rush to the other side and comfort Luz- but there would be time for that later. She waited as Lilith carried out the rest of her spiel.

“Introducing Amity Blight.”

The crowd erupted into a roar of applause. “Woo, Amity!” one particularly shrill voice called, and Amity suppressed her amusement at knowing that she still had her admirer around. 

“Versus… some human girl.”

Luz took a brave step forward. “My name is Luz Noceda!” she shouted, puffing out her chest. “And I’m training to be a witch!”

The crowd went silent, save for a few underwhelmed grumbles. 

_ They might be able to, but I could never express how proud I am of you, Luz. _

Then, the bell screamed, and the duel began.

Both girls remained stoic for a moment. Amity discreetly jerked her head to the side and Luz’s eyes widened in realization that it was her turn to move. She dashed across the arena, avoiding Eda’s traps on the way, and stopped just short of where Amity stood at the edge. Then, she bent over and traced her finger through the sand, traveling all around the arena and making a huge circle around a mound in the center. As she moved back the middle and began to trace a glyph, Lilith leaned over and hissed in Amity’s ear. “Why are you just standing there, dithering like a human? Do something!”

“Just a moment,” Amity murmured back.

As soon as Luz’s glyph was complete, Amity summoned some abomination goo from the ground and rode it like a wave towards the center mound. Luz arrived in her position just in time for Amity to scoop her up and carry her to the center as well- even now, even with these stakes, Amity’s brain still short-circuited at Luz’s proximity. 

The goo deposited them just below the center mound. Amity kicked the mound with her heel as Luz leaned down and touched her glyph. A pillar of fire erupted behind them and, with one more well-timed abomination spell, the entire arena was dazzled in a harsh white light. Amity and Luz now stood a story above the other spectators on a tower of abomination goo. Though the fire still burned hot at her back and the strength of the light spell had temporarily blinded her, Amity couldn’t ignore the rush of triumph that flooded through her veins.

“I can't believe that actually worked,” she whispered to Luz as the light spell began to fade.

Luz took her hand and squeezed it. “It was certainly… showy.”

Amity grinned. “And that was just the beginning.”

By now the light was beginning to fade, leaving the spectators groaning and rubbing at their eyes. Annoyed as they might have been, Amity and Luz had definitely been able to grab their attention. Surely by now they knew that this wasn’t any old witches’ duel. They were about to see something they had never seen before.

“I almost lost my ability to see you, Amity!” wailed the distinct voice of Amity’s fan. Amity blew a kiss in his direction.

Now all eyes were on the two of them. “Are you ready?” Luz asked.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Then here goes nothing.” Luz lifted her chin and took a deep breath. Her hand, which she’d never taken out of Amity’s, was beginning to shake, so Amity gave it another reassuring squeeze.

“Thank you for giving us your  _ entire _ attention,” Luz began. “My name is Luz Noceda. I’m a human training to be a witch, but this is not a witches’ duel.” She nodded to Amity. “This is Amity Blight, the most talented witch student I’ve ever met. I haven’t known her for very long, but what I  _ do  _ know is that she’s one of the best friends I’ve ever had. Now, I know what you’re thinking.” The audience had begun to growl about the  _ human witch  _ again, and it seemed as if Luz was fighting to keep her voice steady. “A lowly human and a talented student of magic, friends? Incredulous! But it’s true. We work very well together, surprisingly.”

Briefly Amity recalled Grom. Luz was right- she’d never felt stronger or more capable than when she was fighting by Luz’s side. Perhaps there  _ was _ some sort of deeper magical connection there. The idea made her blush. 

Now it was her turn to continue their speech. “This is the very reason we’re here today. It was requested of us that we duel on behalf of our teachers- but considering that my teacher is a  _ cheater,  _ we decided to come together in peace instead.” She ripped the construction glyph off the back of her neck, wincing as she did so, and held it out, hoping the audience would be able to see it. There was a shocked gasp- most notably from Lilith below them, as well as a sharp howl of laughter from Eda.

“That’s right,” Amity went on. She fed eagerly off the energy of the crowd, and how clear it was that they too were beginning to turn against Lilith.  _ Yes! Yes! Look at me! Look at us! _ “You have proof here that the leader of the esteemed Emperor’s Coven is willing to use violent means in order to hurt a young human student with lower than average magical knowledge. Is this the kind of system you want to follow?”

The feedback to her announcement seemed to be very… varied. Some of the crowd members instantly yelled out their support, while others yelled out in defense of Lilith, and before long a chant of “Praise the Emperor! Praise the Emperor!” was spreading through the auditorium. 

With the sound of conflict ringing in her ears, Amity allowed the abomination tower to slowly collapse and let her and Luz onto the ground again. “Oh, sweet sweet ground!” Luz sighed when her feet touched the sand. It didn’t take long for Amity’s eyes to meet Lilith’s, and from the look of it, her mentor was not happy.  _ Bring it on,  _ she thought.

Lilith was practically bristling like a cat when she reached Amity’s side. “I can only think of one thing to take from this…  _ demonstration  _ today,” she hissed.

Amity looked down and pretended to examine her nails. “Mhm? What?”

“You’re a disgrace to the Emperor's Coven,” Lilith replied. “You and your alliance with the human and with my sister. I’d expected more from you, Amity Blight. And thus, from now on, you will no longer be my student.”

  
  



	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long, marching band and school have been kicking my ass lol.  
> i hate physics. what the fuck is a kinematic equation❤️

_ Moonlight conjuring tonight! No humans (or FRIENDS of humans) allowed! Xoxo _

Luz frowned, peering over Amity’s shoulder at the photo of Boscha, Skara, and Cat’s smug grins and the caption displayed on Amity’s scroll screen. “Wow,” Luz said. “What losers. I’m sorry, Amity.”

Amity shrugged and pocketed the scroll. Looking at Boscha’s post wasn’t going to make her feel any differently about the treatment she’d endured from Boscha’s posse since the duel yesterday afternoon, so why let it distract her now? “It’s fine.”

“Not really!” Luz protested. “They were your friends, and they just up and ditched you as soon as they learned that Lilith isn’t teaching you anymore. And now they’re being extra mean to you, on social media of all places.”

“If you think that’s bad, you should have heard what my parents said to me when I got home last night.”

Luz’s eyes were round with sadness. “I feel like this is all my fault. If we hadn’t stood together during the duel…” She buried her face in her hands, muffling her voice. “Talking about it probably isn’t helping you, is it?”

_ I did it for you. It’s okay. You’re more than worth it. _ Amity’s throat felt tight, and she couldn’t bring herself to say the words out loud, so instead she allowed her hand to creep up to Luz’s shoulders and rest on the small of Luz’s back. Luz spared her a grateful glance and leaned into the touch.

“Maybe it’s true that Boscha would still want to be my friend if we’d actually dueled,” Amity murmured. “But I also know that if I had brought myself to fight you I never would have forgiven myself.”

“You didn’t actually have to hurt me, you know.”

“I might have, with that glyph on my neck. Who knows what I would have done with that kind of strength?” Of course,  _ she _ knew, though she didn’t want to admit as much to Luz. She could recall their first duel as though it had been yesterday rather than three and a half months ago. With that construction glyph stuck to her, her rational thoughts had become fuzzy, and her focus had narrowed so that she could only think of one thing: her need to show the annoying and destructive human what for. 

Looking at Luz now, peacefully sitting on the couch cushion beside her, it made her heart hurt to think that she’d ever been like that.

_ I’ve made too many mistakes.  _

“Hey!” Amity jerked her head up. Willow and Gus were couched in the corner of the room over a strange-looking human doll, and Willow was waving. 

“Be sappy another time!” Willow called. “Come help Gus and I decide what we should animate tonight! He wants to use this weird buff doll, but I was thinking of maybe something prettier, like… a plant.”

“Oh, cool!” Luz wasted no time in flinging herself off the couch and seating herself next to her two friends. She chatted animatedly with Willow for a moment, with Gus breaking in occasionally to argue, and Amity found herself zoning out. Her attention was trained on Luz, and the other noises of the house faded into the background. From afar, it was all too easy to notice the little things about her crush, like the way Luz’s chocolate eyes shone when she was excited or the way she got dimples when she smiled or the way she tucked stray strands of hair behind her adorable round ears…

Amity was overcome with such a wave of affection for Luz that for a moment she feared she might collapse. Here she sat, only a few feet away from a girl who was adorable and kind and beautiful and cared for her friends more than anything else and had such an endearing way of looking at the world and sharing her passions that Amity could sit and listen to her talk for hours. And Amity was this girl’s  _ friend _ . They  _ cared  _ for each other. Even now, Amity struggled to wrap her head around it.

And even now, Luz sat blissfully, unaware that Amity was having these thoughts at all.

She couldn’t take it anymore. She couldn’t keep holding in all these things that she longed to say inside, even though she and Luz had only (technically) known each other for a couple weeks.

Tonight was the night Amity would confess.

_ I hope Luz understands. _

“Luz,” Amity began, standing up. “I-”

“Look!” Gus interrupted. He broke away from the group and dashed to the window, Luz and Willow following.  _ I was just about to say something very important, but okay, _ Amity grumbled silently. She thought better of herself and held her tongue.

“The moon’s in position!” Willow exclaimed. “Okay, everyone get in a circle!”

Amity barely heard her, still lost in thought as she stared up at the moon outside the window.

“Amity, you too!” 

“Oh!” Amity pulled herself away from her thoughts. “Right. Sorry.” She sat between Luz and Gus, and when Luz took her hand she felt redness creeping up her neck.

“All we have to do is recite the incantation and then the little buff doll will be animated.” Willow nodded to the little doll in the center of the circle. “Okay, ready?”

“It’s a  _ figurine,” _ Gus muttered.

Amity repeated the incantation with the others. She knew it by heart, having attended a moonlight conjuring every year since she was in elementary school- Willow and Gus knew it too, despite never having been to one. Only Luz seemed to be reduced to incoherent mumbling as the other three chanted about moonlight and magic.

_ Wait,  _ realized Amity as the incantation drew to a close.  _ Last time- the house- _

Her train of thought was interrupted when the ground began to shake. The sensation was reminiscent of her previous encounter with Grom at the tree, and she flinched away despite herself.

Gus grabbed the doll and squeezed it. “Little buff guy, what did you do?”

Willow rose shakily to her feet and glanced around. “I- I think we may have animated the house instead!”

“The  _ house? _ ” Luz shrieked. She made a dash for the door, but Amity caught her wrist before she could reach it.

“Luz, be careful,” Amity warned. “You don’t know-”

Luz gently drew her arm from Amity’s grip. “I have to see what’s going on.”

“Then I’m coming with you,” Amity replied stubbornly. 

For a moment, Luz seemed to hesitate, but she clearly saw the pleading expression in Amity’s eyes. She nodded and took her friend’s hand. “Okay. We’ll go together.”

The two girls pushed the door open gingerly and took a few experimental steps onto what used to be the solid ground in front of the house. But, just like last time, they found themselves suspended a few stories in the air, and the ground continued to rumble. 

Luz gulped. “That’s not good.”

Guilt clawed Amity’s chest.  _ I shouldn’t have let them do this. I knew what was going to happen, and I still put Luz and the others in danger.  _ All her previous thoughts about confessing to Luz fled her mind.  _ Right now, the only thing I need to go is get them back to the ground safely. _

“Hooty! Hooty!” Luz dropped Amity’s hand and rushed back to the door and steadied herself by gripping the doorknob. “You have to stop!”

“By the power of moonlight, I have risen, hoot hoot!” Hooty replied robotically.

The house began to take more steps, and Luz yelped, falling to the side. Amity moved to catch her, but an especially strong tremor rocked the house, and she slipped, crashing to her knees. Luz was sent tumbling off the edge with a high-pitched wail of distress. At the last second, Luz dug into the dirt with one hand so that she was dangling helplessly in midair.

For a moment Amity was frozen. A fall from this height would seriously injure Luz, if not kill her.  _ This is how it ends, isn’t it? _ she thought, defeated.  _ I’m going to have to live the rest of my life knowing that I’m responsible for the death of the girl I fell for. Me and my selfish time spell. _

Movement brushed past Amity’s peripheral vision.  _ Willow.  _ Gus followed suit. “What are you doing just standing there?” Willow snapped. “Help me drag Luz back up.”

Just like then, Amity’s stupor was broken. She crouched down by Willow’s side and gripped one of Luz’s arms as tightly as she could. “I’m sorry,” she choked out. “I thought she was a goner. I was so scared-”

“You think I’d give up that easily?” Luz interjected.

Willow spared a glance behind Luz at the cliff. “We’re getting close to the edge.” Her tone was edged with fear. “When I say  _ now, _ pull her up. Okay, ready? Pull!”

Summoning all the strength she could muster up, Amity tugged on Luz’s arm, and Willow did the same. Their attempt seemed to be in vain at first, but after a moment they were able to drag Luz back onto the earthy platform. Luz scrabbled at the dirt with her feet for a heartbeat before pulling herself fully back over the edge.

“That was terrifying!” cheered Luz. “Wow, thanks for the rescue!”

“Promise me you’ll never go running over the edge of a walking house again,” Amity begged.

Luz shrugged. “I can’t make any promises…” she trailed off, and her brown eyes went rond with fear. “Uh, guys? Small problem…”

Amity glanced over her shoulder and nearly shrieked. The ground below them was dizzyingly far below, and one of the house's feet was extended over the side of the cliff. How’d they gotten this far already? She grabbed Luz’s hand and screwed her eyes shut. The moment before they all plummeted to their untimely demises seemed to be lasting forever.  _ Luz, I’m sorry I never told you I loved you. _

Then the movement and creaking of the house stopped.

Amity allowed herself to crack open her eyes.

They were not falling.

An ethereal blue light was shed over the four witches, making Amity’s pale skin glow.  _ Is this moon magic? _ she wondered, and judging by the astonished expressions of her friends, they didn’t know either.

“It’s the power of friendship!” Willow whispered.

“Or moonlight,” said Gus.

“Our bond is so strong we were able to stop the house!” Luz put in. 

Even Amity could feel the strength of the magic bind flowing between the four of them. Maybe she was imagining it- but the strongest bond seemed to be between her and Luz, pulsing between them so intensely it was almost tangible.

Their relief was short lived, though, because the house shook again. Amity tightened her grip on Luz’s hand and it seemed that her crush was doing the same.

“Not again,” groaned Gus. 

A sound almost akin to an explosion filled Amity’s ears, and she looked up. Panic thrilled through her when it appeared that one side of the house was collapsing. Brick by brick a gigantic hole appeared in the wall, and the same happened to the other side of the house.

Then, from both gaps in the walls protruded two gigantic feathered wings.

None of the four had any time to react before the wings began to flap and the house was carried off into the dark, star-speckled sky.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m posting this right before i sleep so if u guys have comments i can wake up to in the morning i will literally give u my first born kitten


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tomorrow is this fic’s 1 month birthday :D

Suddenly they were airborne, and unspoken panic crackled all around them.

Luz looked up at the house’s huge brown wings. “What? It’s not supposed to do that!” she yelped. 

Willow and Gus were pressing themselves against the front door as the increasing strength of the wind threatened to toss them to the ground. “Hooty’s still in his trance!” Gus called. “If we can get him out of it-”

Blinded by the wind, Willow screwed her eyes shut. “It’s not Hooty, though, remember? When we all held hands we stopped the house from going over the cliff!  _ We _ have to stop the house, not Hooty!”

“But as soon as the house stopped, this happened,” Luz replied. She glanced at Amity. “Amity? You’re the magic expert here, what’s going on? How do we get down?”

“The house,” Amity began to grip Luz’s hand even harder, as if Luz would be blown away like a leaf in the wind otherwise. “The house is flying. It’s _flying._ _House. Flying.”_  
“Yeah, unfortunately,” Luz said weakly. “Gus, Willow, get over here. We need to try again!” She was shouting now, begging to be heard over the strength of the gale. 

Amity was beginning to put the puzzle pieces together. There was only  _ one _ thing that was different about this Conjuring compared to the last, and only one variable that had been changed- her. The house’s new transformation was  _ her  _ fault.

Would the shadows of her mistakes ever stop following her around?

Gus scrambled over to Luz and Amity quickly and grabbed ahold of Luz’s other hand, and Willow stationed herself between Gus and Amity. As soon as all eight of their hands were joined, they were once again surrounded by the blue glow, and they felt the house freeze in midair.

“That’s it,” Lus whispered encouragingly, “Now we all need to  _ focus.” _

Amity knew that there was some kind of “telepathic communication with the animated object” type thing that they were supposed to be doing, but she and her old friends had never managed it, so she wasn’t completely sure how it worked. Nevertheless, she channeled all of her focus into connecting with Hooty-  _ this would be so strange if I wasn’t doing it for Luz- _ and strained with all her might to direct the house back to the ground. Was this even how it was supposed to work?

“Are we just putting it down here?” Willow asked. Amity recognized Willow’s voice despite keeping her own eyes closed, directing all her senses toward Hooty. “Not, uh… where it’s supposed to be?”

“Here is fine, we can figure out the rest later,” Luz replied.  _ She seems to be so confident and self-assured, _ Amity thought.  _ Eda really must be a great teacher. Who would be able to guess that she’s just a lost human looking for a place to fit in? _

“I don’t even know where  _ here _ is,” Gus pointed out.

“We’ll figure that out later, too.”

Then, somehow, the strength of the wind created by the house’s wings began to flow towards the four witches, and Amity found herself fighting even harder to keep her heels dug into the dirt. “It’s working!” she yelled. “Keep focused! Pretend you’re taking your Abominations final and you don’t want to disappoint your parents! Focus  _ that _ hard!”

“Or whatever helps you!” Willow added.

If she wasn’t trying to control a flying house while hanging onto her friends for dear life, Amity would have been embarrassed. “Yeah, that.”

At last, the breeze died, the air went silent, and the metaphorical dust settled. Amity cracked her eyes open and, dazed, observed her surroundings. The house was standing on its legs, and Amity and the others were suspended several stories in the air.  _ That can be fixed…  _ She glanced at her friends. They were all gazing around in varied states of bewilderment and confusion. She waved awkwardly. “Hi. Uh… we did it… good job, guys?”

“That was a lot easier than I expected,” Gus commented.

Luz blinked. “Where are we?”

“I’m not sure.” It was too dark to make out much of anything beyond the line of trees they were facing, and Amity guessed that they were lucky that the full moon illuminated that much. If she squinted, she thought she could make out a tall wrought iron-and-brick fence in front of the trees, but perhaps it was a trick of the light. The more she looked, though, the more familiar the shape of the fence and the three-eyed insignia on the top looked, and after a moment she realized it was not at all her imagination. 

A chill rushed through her that was definitely not the fault of the late-night breeze. “You know what? I might have an idea, actually. We should probably leave.” She turned and rushed into the house.

Luz was hard on Amity’s heels. “So what is this place?”

Amity reached a back room and stopped at the window, throwing open the curtain. Her heart dropped immediately. It was just as she’d feared. She could even see the light on in one of the upper rooms of the mansion she was staring at, and she knew exactly who was in it. 

She looked back at Luz. “You remember Boscha from school, don’t you?”

The grim line that Luz’s mouth settled into told Amity everything she needed to know.

“Well, this is her house,” Amity went on. “It’s almost as big as mine. Rumor has it that her mom and my mom were so competitive when they went to Hexside that they even competed to see who could buy the bigger house after they graduated… my mom won by just a little bit. Anyway, we need to get out of here before Boscha and her  _ minions  _ see us.”

“Right- they’re having a Moonlight Conjuring tonight too, aren’t they?” Luz laughed. “Well they certainly don’t seem to be animating the house, so I guess we’ve got them beat in that category.”

“Shh.” Amity gripped Luz by the arm and dragged her back to what was left of the Owl House’s front porch, where Willow and Gus were waiting.

“This is Boscha’s house, isn’t it?” Willow asked flatly when they returned. Amity nodded.

“That mean potions witch from the grudgby team?” Gus groaned. “C’mon, of  _ all  _ the houses in Bonesborough with gigantic yards we could have landed in…”

_ Grudgeby. _ Amity made a mental note that she still needed to resign from the freshman team captain’s spot before the semester ended. “That’s her,” she said. “And I can’t let her see us.” She swallowed nervously. “...If she hasn’t already noticed the giant house with legs right outside her window.”

“It’s not like she’d mind if you trespassed,” Willow added. “You’re her friend.”

Amity thought she could detect an edge of sarcasm in the other girl’s voice, which made sense. Willow and Boscha weren't exactly on the best of terms. Ever since third grade Boscha had had a tendency to make Willow’s life a living hell at school. She seemed to have calmed down since they became teenagers (save for the infamous grudgby incident from three weeks ago slash a month in the future), but Amity knew that Willow had never forgiven her.  _ I can’t believe I did…  _

“Unless Boscha’s really scared of legged houses,” suggested Luz.

Amity shook her head. “No, it’s not either of those things. I’ll be honest with you about why we can’t be here, but then we really have to go. Like, for real.”

“Okay,” Luz said.

Taking a deep breath, Amity exhaled slowly and sent a quick prayer to the stars that her new friends wouldn’t be mad at her. This was what friendship was all about, right? Honesty? “If Boscha and her gang see me with you guys, they’ll make fun of me,” she confessed. “And I know that sounds shallow,” she went on when Willow opened her mouth to protest. “I shouldn’t care, because you’re my friends, so it shouldn’t matter who sees us together. But it’s… a lot messier than that. My parents… they… well, it’s kind of complicated. But really it comes back to them. I love being friends with you guys, I really do, but I don’t think the rest of the world loves it too.” 

For a brief moment a flicker of familiarity flitted across Willow’s face.  _ Does she remember? _ Amity wondered.  _ Of course she does, it was in her memories.  _ But Willow said nothing that betrayed her knowledge that Amity was not telling the whole story.

Luz nodded in sympathy. “I know your parents kind of suck, like a  _ lot _ . You can tell us more later, if you like?” she offered.

“I might.” Of course she’d spill the entire story to Luz eventually. It’s what you do when you’re kind of maybe in love with someone, right? Reveal your darkest secrets to them and hope they still love you back? Not that Luz loved Amity back, of course.

Yet.

“Let’s get going. I hate being around this place,” Willow muttered.

“Please,” Gus said. He shivered dramatically. “And I don’t even know this Boscha girl very well.”

Amity reached her hands out in hopes that Luz and Willow would grab them, but a voice sounded from below, and Amity found all her muscles had frozen in fear.

“That’s too bad. Maybe you should get to know me. People tell me I’m a delight. Isn’t that right, Amity?”

Willow cleared her throat. Her voice came out as a hoarse whisper. “We’re too late, aren’t we?”

Luz scrambled towards the edge of the grass the house sat on. She peered over the edge and shook her fist angrily at the ground. “Leave us alone, Boscha! We never did anything to you!” she snapped.

Seeing Luz stand up for them gave Amity the courage she needed. She let herself relax, and she stood at Luz’s side. Sure enough, thirty or so feet below, Boscha was standing with her hands cupped around her mouth as if she was about to keep shouting. Skara and Cat were just behind her, backing her up like two scrawny fourteen-year-old bodyguards.

“Amity’s human friend!” Boscha crowed. ‘The one who made her go soft and abandon us. Awww. I should’ve guessed you’d be here!”

Amity longed to leap to the ground and show Boscha who the real boss… cha here was, but she restrained herself for Luz, Willow, and Gus’ safety, if not her own. Instead she let her fury boil over from where she could safely stand. “I didn’t abandon you! You told me just this morning that I wasn’t allowed to come to your Conjuring because Lilith isn’t my teacher anymore.”

“Didn’t you see the Penstagram post? No humans or their associates allowed!” Boscha bared her fangs. “And that means  _ you. _ ”

“I can’t believe her fangs grew in before mine,” Gus whispered. “That’s so not fair.”

“And what about your giant chicken house? What the  _ heck _ is up with that?”

Skara and Cat let out two perfectly timed giggles. Amity couldn’t help but roll her eyes. These people were an  _ embarrassment. _

“I’ll have you know,” Luz shouted defiantly, “that we animated the entire house by ourselves. The  _ entire house. _ That’s right! Amity said you’ve never pulled anything like that off!”

Boscha’s face twisted into a look of disgust. “That is not a good look for her,” Amity whispered to Luz, and Luz giggled. The sound filled Amity with warmth from her head to her toes.

“Maybe that’d be impressive if it weren’t you,” Boscha sniffed. “Traitor.”

“That’s an awfully strong word, Boscha,” Amity said. “Sounds like you came right out of a  _ Good Witch Azura  _ book.” She ignored Luz’s immediate gasp of “WAIT, YOU LIKE AZURA TOO?” (Technically, that reveal wasn’t supposed to happen until the weekend, but surely being a little ahead of time wouldn’t mess anything up too badly.)

Boscha shrugged, not losing her signature scowl. “Whatever. I just wanted to tell you to keep your stupid chicken house off my lawn.”

Amity drew back so that she stood closer to her  _ real _ friends. “Fine, will do. Okay, glad that’s settled. Everyone ready to go?” The other three nodded eagerly. Amity spared Boscha one more wave before joining hands with Luz and Willow and stomping the house away.

“You’re lucky that I’m covering for you tonight for your parents!” Boscha yelled after them. “I’m not doing that anymore now! Also you’re not allowed to sit with me at lunch! And I’ll find a  _ new  _ potions tutor!”

“Perfectly okay by me,” Amity laughed, though she was certain she was already out of earshot. 

“Okay, that was fun and all, but my takeaway from this is that you like  _ Azura?” _ Luz exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? We’ve been friends for like two whole weeks already! That’s like my favorite series ever and- you guys actually have those here? On the  _ Boiling Freaking Isles? _ ”

“Well, why don’t you come with me to the library on Saturday night?” Amity suggested. “There’s a… thing going on that I bet you'd love.”  _ Provided that I can keep you away from the pencils. _ “Plus, I’ve got something I want to show you…”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ready yourselves... the next 2 chapters contain lots of fluff


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was gonna have this up like 2 days ago but i got distracted by all my upcoming band performances and making my luz cosplay (which turned out really well at least)
> 
> the next chapter is gonna be extra long :D

“Welcome to the Bonesborough Public Library!”

Watching Luz’s eyes light up with excitement when she saw the inside of the library for the very first time was worth every scrap of anxiety about the night that was worming around in Amity’s stomach. Luz didn’t seem to know where to run first- to the shelf with the flying books, to the tables that displayed expensive-looking crystal balls, to the Demon Decimal System filing cabinet in the corner. So, she turned in an erratic circle for a moment, squealing with joy.

“This is incredible,” Lus gasped. “A magic library! With magic and books! Woooow!”

“Certainly plenty of that around here,” Amity agreed.

Luz stopped circling. “It looks kind of… closed, though.”

Amity frowned, surveying the dark lobby and taking in the complete silence of the vast space. Maybe tonight hadn’t been the best night to bring Luz. She’d wanted Luz to see the Wailing Star, of course, but the best library experience was that of the daytime, when you could actually check out books and see what a magical library really was like. “Well, I can always bring you back later. Besides, what I have to show you tonight has nothing to do with the books out here.”

Luz pointed to a poster that hung next to the drop-off desk. “You mean that thing? The star?”

“Well, not just that-”

Twin gasps came from behind Amity. “Are you gonna show her your secret hideout, Mittens?”

Amity whirled around. “I ought to slap you,” she told her siblings. For a moment she’d forgotten that they were there. She’d been too wrapped up in the adorableness of Luz’s wonder to notice their steady presence hovering behind her.

They didn’t react to her threat. Ed snickered while Em wore a bemused expression that seemed to say something along the lines of  _ this has something to do with that weird story about time travel you made up, doesn’t it? _

“You have a secret hideout?” Luz asked enthusiastically.

Amity blushed. “I prefer to call it my  _ reading nook, _ but… yes.”

“It’s where she writes in her diary,” Ed said. He made his voice go high-pitched to impersonate his little sister. “ _ Dear Diary, I wonder how I can possibly annoy my poor siblings today. Maybe I’ll tell their Illusions teacher that they were cutting class to eat the Hex Mix in the bathroom that they illegally shook out of the vending machines. Ah yes, a wonderful and sound plan. Also, I still have a massive crush on-” _

“Edric!” Amity barked. She was glad she wasn’t facing Luz- she didn’t want Luz to notice how tomato-red she’d suddenly gotten. “That’s enough of that. Let’s just show Luz around, okay?” She took a deep breath, and, confident that most of the redness had faded from her cheeks, turned back to Luz. “I’m sorry about these losers.”

“Wow, what a way to introduce us,” Em said.   


“Is that how Luz is going to know us forever? Losers?” Ed joked.

“Fine, I’ll introduce you  _ formally. _ ” Amity waved a dismissive hand at the twins. “Luz, these are Emira and Edric. They’re Illusionist juniors and they’re massive pains. Em and Ed, this is my human friend Luz. Please be nice to her. I am literally begging you.”

Em smiled. “Hi, Luz. We’ve heard  _ soooo _ much about you.”

“Oh,” Luz said. “Like what?”

“Like that Amity has-”

Amity waved a finger and Em’s mouth snapped shut. “If you’re wondering,” she told Luz, “they’re only here because they knew how to get in and I didn’t.” She had to admit to herself that she  _ really  _ missed Future Edric and Emira.

“And because we’re super fun to be around,” Ed added.

“Well, on a night like tonight, you’re probably also going to be reckless and make very bad decisions, so it’s a good thing your mature little sister is here to help you not destroy everything because of the star.”

“What do you mean?” Em exchanged a glance with Ed. “How do you figure we’ll destroy everything?” she asked.

“I- uh-” Amity couldn’t help but trip over her words. None of her siblings had known about the Wailing Star’s magic last time, she recalled, and she’d just slipped up about her own knowledge on the subject.. “Extensive research,” she decided on at last. “The star has an effect on books that kind of… magicks them to life.”

Em blinked. “I thought there weren’t any written accounts of the Wailing Star’s magical effects. You said so yourself, a few weeks ago.”

_ I also used to think that time-travel magic was impossible. _ “You just have to know where to look.”

“That’s pretty dope,” Ed admitted. “Books brought to life? Sweet! Where is that star, anyway? Does it really wail? How long do we have to wait around for it?”

As he spoke, a light passed through the window at the top of the lobby wall, and an eerie cry echoed all around them. Luz visibly shivered at the sound.

“I guess there’s your answer,” Em murmured.

“Wow,” Luz whispered.

“Oh, you haven’t seen the best of it yet!” Overcome with a burst of playfulness (and desire to get away from her siblings), Amity darted over to the nearest bookshelf and retrieved a book titled  _ Snowballing 101. _ She opened the glowing green book up and hurled the snowball that spawned from the pages straight at Luz. “Hey Luz, think fast!”

Luz yelped and ducked, only for the snowball to hit her squarely on the forehead. “Stupid being tall!” she squawked. “Curse you, five feet and seven inches!” She seemed to panic for a moment, unsure how to exact revenge, but then she reached over to the nearest shelf, snatched a book, and opened it facing Amity. She let out a yell of delight when a flock of colorful birds emerged from the pages. Amity was showered in feathers and she couldn’t help but sneeze when one landed on her nose.

“ _ Boiling Isles Birdwatching 101? _ Really?” As she reached for another book, she sneezed again. “I’ll get you this time, human!”

“Try ‘n catch me!” Luz giggled back. She dashed away with her arms out. “By the way!” she called when she was a few yards away. “You sneeze cute!”

Amity was consciously aware of her siblings’ smug grins burning into her back. “Not a word,” she hissed.

“I didn’t say anything,” Em said innocently. Ed wolf whistled in response.

“Stop it or I’m never letting you in my reading nook again.”

“You say that every time we make you mad.”

“Why don’t you two go off and battle it out somewhere instead of standing around and being annoying? I know you’re itching to go at it,” Amity said wryly. “I’ve  _ seen _ you do it. And Em won, by the way.”

Em stuck her tongue out at her brother. “Look. I’ve got the time traveler’s stamp of approval.”

“Yep, good job.” Confident that she’d distracted them by bringing their own rivalry into the equation, Amity spun around and made her way back to Luz, who was still waiting patiently a short distance away.

“Wow,” Luz said sympathetically when Amity stopped in front of her. “They’re massive pains, are they?”

Amity shrugged. “They’re the best family I’ve got.”

“Fair enough. Hey, what’s that behind you?”

Amity glanced over her shoulder. “There’s nothing there-”

Luz seized the opportunity. “Ha! You have fallen for my trap! Now eat this, sucker!” she quipped, quoting  _ Azura. _

A soft weight thudded against Amity’s back and she let out a quiet  _ oof. _ “Luz, you little-” She grabbed the pillow that now lay at her feet and tossed it back. “Nobody uses  _ Pillow Fights for Dummies _ against me!”

The two girls chased each other, shrieking and fighting playfully until they’d backed themselves into the romance section. (Had Amity chosen that spot on purpose? Maybe.) 

Luz shut the book she was holding and glanced around her. “Boiling Isles romance, huh? Sounds… interesting.”

Amity glanced around. The shelves were empty of anyone else, but she wouldn’t put it past her siblings to use an invisibility illusion to spy on them. “You haven’t seen Em and Ed since I left them back in the lobby, have you?”

“Nope.” A bolt of blue light shot over the shelves several sections away and Luz shielded her eyes. “I’m guessing they’re… over there.”

“Good.” Quickly locating  _ The Lone Witch and the Secret Room,  _ Amity gave it a tug and the wall slid away. Luz stared open-mouthed at the doorway.

“Welcome to my reading nook.” Amity stepped inside and held her arms out. “It’s not much, but it’s cozy.”

“Not much? It’s everything,” Luz said quietly. She surveyed the room and immediately spotted the  _ Azura _ shelf. “ _ Azura _ books one through four!” she gasped. “You really do get them here!”

“Yeah, we-”

“I can’t believe you like them,” Luz was already rummaging around on the shelf, running her hands over the smooth covers and worn, loved pages of the books. “I, Luz Noceda, just a dorky human, share an interest with Amity Blight, one of the coolest witches at Hexside? That’s crazy!”

“I mean,” Amity admitted, “ _ Azura _ is kind of for nerds.”

“What’s this? Is this cover hand-drawn?” Luz took another book from the shelf. This one had been hidden behind the others, and Amity recognized the badly-drawn pink cover she’d made back in seventh grade only as soon as Luz was cracking the book open.

“Don’t touch that!” Amity made a lunge for Luz. Luz, startled, jumped, and the book fell from her hands onto the carpeted floor. It lay spine-up, pages exposed. Amity froze.

Both girls could only stare- one with bewilderment, one with horror- as a tiny Amity arose from the pages. This Amity looked a little subdued, a little nervous, but there was a telltale pink blush spread across her cheeks.

“It’s already been two weeks and I still haven’t done what I need to do,” Tiny Amity said. “That's why I got sent here, isn’t it? But I’m too scared. I know that being scared is only going to make things worse for everyone in the end, but I can’t bring myself to actually say what I need to out loud, even to myself. There are just too many things that could go wrong.”

Hearing that seemed to make life flow back into Amity’s limbs. She grabbed the diary and shut it, holding it tight to her chest. “Don’t ever touch that again,” she growled to Luz.

Luz’s shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry.”

“I-” Amity stopped herself from saying any more. She inhaled slowly, shut her eyes, and breathed out.  _ Focus, _ she told herself.  _ It was an accident. Luz isn’t like that. It’s okay. _ It had been a close call, though- too close for comfort, and now Amity’s heart was racing. She felt like it would tear itself out of her chest at any second.

“I’m sorry I snapped,” she said after a moment. “I just got scared.”

“Was that your diary?”

Amity nodded.

“If you don’t mind telling me… what was it talking about?”

Amity hesiated. She could never confess to Luz here. The timing and the mood just weren't what she imagined they’d be when she finally finessed the courage to admit her feelings. But she didn’t want to lie, either…

Luz clearly sensed Amity’s nervousness. “Come sit down with me,” she suggested. She sat down in the corner of the room, among a few of Amity’s softest pillows, and patted the floor next to her. Amity gingerly lowered herself to the ground.

“Thanks, Luz.”

“You don’t have to tell me what’s going on if you don’t want to. I know it’s probably personal. I’m not obligated to know.” Luz shrugged. “But if there’s anything you want to get off your chest, I’ll listen.”

“You’re right, I’d… I’d rather not talk about it. It’s something I can figure out by myself.”

“Okay.”

“And if I can’t, you’ll be the first to know.”

“If you want me to be.”

Amity stole a glance at Luz out of the corner of her eye. “Can I… can I hug you?” she asked slowly. She didn’t want to seem desperate, but the warmth of her crush’s arms seemed awfully inviting right now. She didn’t want to be vulnerable, or weak. But she felt like- at least around Luz- she could be.

“Aww, of course!” Luz exclaimed. “You know me, Amity. I’m  _ always _ down for some good ol’ quality hugging.”

Amity broke into a grin and threw her arms around Luz. She tucked her head under Luz’s chin, and felt Luz’s hand come to rest on her back. “You dork,” she murmured.

“Dorky? Me? Yeah, maybe. But you love it.”

“Maybe I do.”

A minute passed, and Amity didn’t let go. She wasn’t sure what strange force was possessing her to hold onto Luz so tightly and for so long, but for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to pull away. Luz’s warmth and the gentle strength of her embrace was keeping her grounded. Here, her fear was scarcely there. What was the point of confessing to Luz when she could just have this, which was equally as valuable? What would a confession change?

_ Enough,  _ Amity thought,  _ that I still want it desperately. _

After a few minutes of silence, Luz’s hand moved up to rest on the nape of Amity’s neck, just grazing her undercut. Amity flinched at the unexpected touch, and Luz drew her hand back. “So-sorry, Amity,” Luz sputtered. “I-”

Amity nuzzled closer to Luz and let out a soft murmur to let her friend know that it was okay. “Just ask first, please.”

Luz nodded. “Okay. Is it okay if I… can I play with your hair?”

“Yeah.”

As Luz’s fingers combed slowly through her bob, Amity found her eyes slipping shut. This was much preferable to her last Wailing Star night with Luz. Nobody was in danger, a major diary crisis had been averted, and Em and Ed hadn’t gotten their hands on its pages. Why couldn’t she always feel like this? Why did the heavy weight of responsibility have to weigh so hard on her back?

At least now, in the safety of Luz’s arms, that kind of thing was easy to forget about.

A gentle hand landed on her shoulder. “Don’t you dare fall asleep on me, Blight.”

“Hmm?” Amity blinked her eyes open. She brought herself back to consciousness and looked slowly up at Luz. Maybe it was the dark lighting, but she could have sworn Luz blushed when their eyes met.

_ Wishful thinking. _

“It’s only like, twelve, silly,” Luz laughed. “And I just got a wonderful idea.”

“What would that be?”

“Hear me out. A night out on the town, you and me,” she said. “The twins can stay here and do… whatever. Eda said there are lots of things to see in Bonesborough at night. And I’ve never been out when it’s dark. And I don’t think Eda’s expecting me home anytime soon, she’s pretty busy. So we should go together! We can explore, potentially run into danger, buy weird merchandise…”

Amity felt her face flame up. Was this a date? It sounded awfully like a date. But why would Luz be asking her out? Did she know? Had she heard more of Amity’s diary entries than Amity was aware of? This couldn’t be a date. Surely Luz asking her on a date,  _ right now, _ was too good to be true.

“Back in the human realm, human friends always did things like that with each other. I never had any friends to do that with, but now I do, so...“ Luz said.

Fine, maybe it wasn’t a date. But it was still time to spend with Luz. That’s what Amity wanted, right? What she was here for? Besides, maybe if the opportunity presented itself, or if they ever found themselves in a particularly romantic patch of moonlight…

“Okay,” Amity decided. “That sounds great. Let’s go.”


	11. Chapter 11

Amity relished the feeling of the cool night air hitting her face as soon as she stepped outside. It was refreshing in a way that the small, warm space of her hideout just wasn’t. She made it all the way to the bottom of the stairs at the library’s entrance before she realized that Luz wasn’t with her.

“Luz?” she called. She turned in a circle, searching for her friend, but it only took her a moment to spot the telltale purple hoodie poised in front of the closed library door. Luz stood with her face to the sky, mouth agape. Amity looked up, but there wasn’t anything remarkable in the sky- just the moon and stars, as always.

“Luz?” She climbed the stairs and stood at Luz’s shoulder. “What… what are you looking at?”

“The  _ stars,” _ Luz whispered. She extended one arm and pointed at the sky.

Amity blinked. “What about them?” They didn’t look any different than normal to her. Was Luz seeing another glyph?  _ No, she already knows the ice spell, and she got that from the sky… _

“We don’t have them like that back in the human world, and so far I’ve spent so much time here fighting monsters and saving Eda from her curse and infiltrating magic schools that I haven’t really been able to just look at them. They’re so beautiful.”

“Yeah.” Amity found herself staring at Luz rather than at the sky. Beautiful was right. The wonder etched on Luz’s face, the way she stood, the way the starlight shone in her dark eyes… Amity could look at Luz forever. She’d always known she liked girls, but never before had one enraptured her quite this much. “You  _ are _ beautiful.”

Luz snapped her gaze towards Amity. “What?”

“What?” Amity repeated.

“You said I’m beautiful.”

“What? No, I meant the stars. The  _ stars _ are beautiful.” Luz looked a bit hurt at this, so Amity quickly amended herself. “I mean, you’re… beautiful too, I… I just meant. Right now. The stars are beautiful right now. Not that you’re  _ not  _ beautiful right now. You always are, that’s just not, uh… the appropriate thing to say at this… very moment? We’re not talking about you, we’re talking about the stars. But now we are talking about you, so I guess… yeah. I just made it weird. I’m so sorry.”

Luz looked bewildered for a moment, but eventually just shrugged. “Well, okay then. I think you’re always beautiful too. Wanna go into town now? It looks like they've got a lot of lights on tonight. Is something going on?”

“The Wailing Star Festival,” Amity replied, beyond relieved that Luz had changed the subject. “Games, food, all that good stuff. You actually picked a pretty good night for coming out here if you’re into that kind of thing.”

“Am I ever!” Luz flashed Amity a grin. “I  _ love  _ games and food! One time, at a county fair back home, I fit seven mini corn dogs in my mouth at once. I got a blue ribbon and a stomachache for my troubles.”

“I have no idea how much of an accomplishment that is, but… good job?”

“Well, I beat everyone else there, so I’d say it is.”

“I’ve never actually been to this festival,” Amity said. “My parents don’t like it when I’m out after dark, but Em and Ed are covering for me tonight. They think I’m studying at Boscha’s.”

“They  _ always _ think you’re studying at Boscha’s, don’t they?”

“Pretty much. It’s the best excuse I’ve got.”

“Didn’t Boscha say something the other night… something about not covering for you anymore when you went and did something your parents didn’t want you to?” asked Luz.

Amity shrugged. “That was an empty threat. She knows she’ll get in trouble with her parents and mine if I’m not accounted for with her.”

“That’s good, I guess.”

A silence fell between them for a moment. It wasn't uncomfortable, but Amity didn’t want to discuss Boscha any further. Before she could say something else, though, Luz pushed ahead, bounding down the stairs and waving. “C’mon, slowpoke! Let’s go see this festival!” she called.

Amity felt a smile break across her face. She could dwell on her problems with Boscha later. Tonight, she was all Luz’s.

~

The center of the festival was the liveliest thing Amity had seen in a long while. Booths were spread across the edge of downtown Bonesborough’s main plaza, and on the far side, high-tempo live music blasted from a stage, played by musicians wearing Bard Coven red. A dance was being held in front of that stage. Most of the dancers appeared to be couples, each person grinning and laughing and twirling and looking at their partner like they were the only person in the world. Amity couldn’t help but stare, imagining her and Luz out there with the others, dancing like their lives, for once, didn’t depend on it.

Luz spotted Amity looking. “Do you like dancing?” she asked.

“Oh.” Amity broke herself from her stupor, and her daydream faded away into the corners of her mind. “I haven’t really tried.” She recalled Grom. “A lot.”

“You seem like you’d be good at it. It’s a little like doing magic.”

Amity laughed. Maybe Luz was right- their Grom dance had been magical, the movement and maneuvers coming to them like they’d been dancing together all their lives. But it’d been pure luck that’d helped Amity defeat Grom. She’d never danced before that, and she wasn’t sure she’d do very well if she tried again. She  _ certainly _ wouldn’t try with Luz for the first time. She couldn’t bring herself to imagine the embarrassment. “I’m not so sure about that.”

“I can teach you, if you like,” Luz offered. “I was on the dance team in middle school. I quit in eighth grade because I was lonely, but I think I retained most of it-”

“Oh, thank you, but that’s- that’s perfectly fine!”  _ Luz can dance? Luz Noceda? The girl who trips over her own feet on the daily? Luz, who writes fanfiction and watches anime, is a charming, suave, talented dancer? _ Amity’s mind buzzed. If she didn’t have a crush on Luz before… 

“You look a little shocked,” Luz giggled. “It’s okay. I wouldn’t expect someone like me to be any good at that sort of thing, either. I guess I wasn’t the best on the team, but I think I was… adequate.”

“Sorry,” Amity said. She took a deep breath and gathered her wits about her.  _ If I can’t control myself around Luz now, how am I ever going to make it all the way to Grom? Or to the grudgby game? Or to when Luz leaves, for that matter? Stars, help me find the courage.  _ “It's not that. It’s really cool, actually. I don’t know anyone who’s a really good dancer.”

Luz shrugged. “It’s okay if you don’t want to dance. It’s not for everyone. I didn’t really like it until I got the hang of it.”

“No, wait. I do want you to teach me,” Amity blurted. She internally slapped herself. Why had she said that? Did she _want_ to embarrass herself in front of all those people, and most importantly, in front of Luz? Amity pictured herself dancing to a slow rhythm, her arms wrapped around Luz’s waist and Luz’s slung over her shoulders, their faces inches apart, swaying to the beat until the music reached a swell and they leaned in and… 

Yeah. When she thought about it that way, dancing with Luz seemed like a pretty good idea.

_ If I make it out alive. _

The mental image was already making her blush.

_ Am I allowed to think about her like that? _

“Maybe not right now,” she added. “Maybe later. Why don’t we go… look around for a bit?”

Luz was unfazed. “Okay! Where do you want to go?”

Amity glanced around. None of the activities looked nearly as appealing as dancing with Luz, but she was just so nervous… she couldn’t do that now. She had to find something to do that’d calm her pounding heart.

As she surveyed the area, she noticed that most of the people around them seemed to be students around her age, though they mostly looked to be upperclassmen. The majority of them were unfamiliar to her, but there was one girl she spotted sitting alone at a table sipping on a milkshake that she could have sworn she’d seen before. The girl’s dark gray sleeves and leggings didn’t belong to any school track Amity knew of, but once she spotted the fish hook earring in the girl’s ear she was struck by an epiphany. This was Viney, who would go on to be the first healing-beastkeeping student at Hexside, and who tended to spend all of her lunch periods staring at Emira red-faced from across the cafeteria.

“I want to go talk to her,” Amity said. 

“Who is that?”

“A friend.” She’d explain everything when they sat down. She grabbed Luz’s arm and dragged her to Viney’s table. Viney looked up at them when she saw them approaching, clearly a bit surprised, as if she wanted to ask who they were but didn’t know how. Nevertheless, she slid aside on the bench to make room for them, and Amity gladly took a seat.

“Hi,” Amity introduced herself. “Sorry, you probably don’t know me. I’m Amity Blight. I’m a freshman at Hexside.”

“Um, hi. I’m Viney. I’m a senior, I guess.” Viney stared at Amity for a moment. Then she gave her head a slight shake, and her eyes widened. “Wait, Blight? Did you say Blight?”

Amity nodded. She suppressed a smirk. “Yeah. I’m Edric and  _ Emira’s _ sister.”

“E… Emira?” Viney stammered. “I mean- that’s cool, that’s cool. I know the twins. They’re, uh- they’re in my lunch period.”

“So am I.”

Viney’s face went beet red. “I haven’t noticed. I don’t sit with the freshmen.”

“You don’t sit with Emira either.”

Viney shifted around in her seat. “But I’d like to. I mean, I wouldn’t be opposed. She seems really cool, and she’s really pretty.”

Luz shot Amity a questioning glance, as if to say  _ why are you just sitting here and making her uncomfortable, _ but Amity ignored her.

“Anyway, I’m here for the explicit purpose of annoying my sister,” Amity announced. “Okay, maybe not  _ annoying _ her. But she will be annoyed at me for doing this, even though it’s for her own good.”

“You mean Emira, right?”

“She is my only sister.” Amity barely managed to not roll her eyes. Viney’s crush was almost as obnoxious as her own. “Anyway, she’s always had trouble… socializing romantically, let’s say. She got stood up at Grom last year.” Actually, Em hadn’t even gone last year, but Viney didn’t need to know that.

Viney frowned. “Poor thing.”

“Exactly. Which is why I was wondering if you would ask her to Grom this year so that we can avoid a repeat of that incident.”

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Luz whispered.

“Of course. I’m being a nicer sister than Em probably deserves,” replied Amity.

Luz shrugged. “Can’t argue with that.” She smiled at Viney. “What do you say? Help my bestest friend’s sister out?”

“I can tell you have good intentions, but… you want me to ask… to ask Emira t- to Grom?” Viney stammered. “As in, one-month-from-today Grom? With Emira?  _ Emira Blight?  _ I know you want your sister to have a date, but shouldn’t you try to find someone who’s a little bit more… I don’t know, in her league?”

“Please,” Amity sighed. “Look. I’ve seen the way you stare at her during lunch.”

“Oh.” Viney’s shoulders slumped.

“If it helps, Em’s mentioned to me a couple times that there’s a cute witch with a weird earring that sits a few tables away.”

Amity had expected Viney to rejoice at this, but instead the older witch looked nearly panicked. “She  _ knows  _ about me. She knows- oh, that’s not good,” groaned Viney, burying her face in her hands. “I don’t even know her very well. Why am I so infatuated with her?”

Amity could have asked herself the same thing just a couple months ago. 

“I happen to be an expert on romance,” Luz announced. “I’ve written  _ lots  _ of fanfiction. I can second Amity’s advice. You should totally go to Grom with Emira… whatever that is. It sounds like some sort of school dance, which would be an amazing opportunity for you! You can fall in love on the dance floor and wear matching dresses… or suits. Y’know, whatever tickles your fancy.”

Luz’s mention of  _ falling in love on the dance floor  _ made Amity’s heart race. 

“Oh, I wish I could,” sighed Viney. “But I'm just a kid from the detention track who can’t even afford a real uniform, let alone a fancy Grom dress. Besides, I’d never be brave enough to ask her.”

“Why don’t we start with this?” Amity suggested. She grabbed the receipt that sat next to Viney’s drink, produced a pen from her pocket, and scrawled a number on the back. “There,” she said, passing the receipt to Viney. “Her scroll number. So you can text her whenever you want and become friends at your own pace.”

“Won’t she think that’s creepy?” Viney fretted.

“Not when I tell her the idea came from me.”

“You’re so noble,” Luz gushed. “Even though Em can be kind of a jerk, you still care about her love life. It’s so sweet.”

Viney pocketed the receipt. “I guess it’s worth a try…”

“You go, girl! Shoot your shot!” Luz cheered. Amity guessed that Luz would never say the same to her.

Suddenly the song being played by the bards on the stage changed, switching from a quiet ballad to a fast, bluesy swing that blasted throughout the whole plaza. “Amity,” Luz said seriously, placing her hands on Amity’s shoulders and looking her straight in the eye. Amity felt herself instinctively leaning a bit closer. “Your Boiling Isles music is  _ so stupid catchy.  _ Will you come dance with me? Pleasepleasepleaseplease?” she begged.

As terrified as she was, Amity realized that she couldn’t refuse Luz’s puppy-dog eyes. “Fine.” She glanced at Viney. “Want to come with us?” she offered, hoping the company of a third would ease her nerves.

Viney shook her head. “Oh, no, thank you. I’m actually waiting for some friends right now. They’re getting food.” As she spoke, an angry dog bark sounded in the background. “Aaand they just told him he can’t have the chocolate milkshake.”

Luz didn’t seem fazed. “Oh well. Maybe next time.” She stood and held her hand out. “May I have this dance, Miss Blight?” she asked, lowering her voice dramatically. 

Thank goodness for the cover of darkness, or Luz would surely be able to see the fire that spread across Amity’s face. “I have no idea what I’m doing,” Amity replied. She placed her hand in Luz’s. She had a split second to fluster herself over how much bigger Luz’s hand was than hers before Luz pulled her away from the table and together they made a sprint for the stage.

As soon as they reached the throng of dancers, Luz’s other hand found Amity’s and Amity found herself being spun to and fro faster than she could tell which direction was which. Luz clearly knew exactly what she was doing, her feet staying in perfect step as she nimbly navigated the crowd. Amity, meanwhile, could only hold on for dear life as colors and noise buzzed around her. 

“Just follow me!” Luz shouted over the noise. “You’ll get the hang of it!”

“I’m trying my best!” Amity wondered how in the world she’d managed this at Grom. When it was just the two of them, she’d felt so comfortable, so in tune with Luz that it was as if they weren’t even two seperate people. Guided by Luz, she’d been flawless, but now she felt like she had two left feet. 

As the song progressed, though, she became a bit more comfortable with the rhythm and the steps. She wasn’t perfect by any means, but mimicking Luz was helping. It wasn’t Grom, but it was fun, and eventually Amity realized she was genuinely enjoying herself. Maybe it was because of the way her heart soared when she realized that Luz was having a total blast, or because it was maybe a little bit the fact that Luz being a great dancer was the teensiet bit very attractive, but whatever it was, it was fun.

Fun, that was, until she tripped and fell.

Luz caught her before she hit the ground. Amity was sure she’d been mere inches away from cracking the back of her head open on the concrete, but there was Luz, her fearless champion, ready to save her, arms wrapped around Amity’s back. Luz gazed at Amity for a moment and didn’t move. Amity didn’t either. All she could think about was how their lips were barely inches apart and how easy it would be to kiss Luz, right this very second, For an instant, time seemed to freeze.

_ This is my opportunity,  _ she thought to herself.  _ Come, on Blight. You've wanted to do this for months and now. It’d be so easy. And it’s not like Luz would reject you in such a public space. She’d let you down easy, I know she would. I don’t really want to be let down, though. But would she really take me out tonight with her if she didn’t like me? Sweet stars, she’s still staring. She’s so beautiful. I need to tell her. And there’s only one real way to do that, isn’t it?. _

Throwing caution to the wind, Amity began to lean in. Just as she did, though, Luz pulled her to her feet so she was once again standing vertically. The last chord of the song blasted behind them. Amity felt herself deflate.  _ I was so close. _

“I’m so sorry about that!” Luz blurted. The crowd around them was beginning to disperse, but the two girls still stood in the center of the dance floor with their hands joined. “I thought you were gonna fall.”

“I thought I- I was gonna fall t-too,” Amity stammered. “Um. Thanks for catching me, though?”

“Of course! I wasn’t gonna let you get hurt.” Luz released one hand (but not the other, Amity noticed giddily), and looked around. “I think that was the last song. What a finale! It was so fast and catchy… you did a great job!”

“Until I fell.”

“It was still amazing for your first time. We make great partners!”

“Partners,” Amity echoed softly.

“We might wanna head out,” Luz said. “I know we haven’t been here for very long, but it is pretty late. I think Eda wants to take me out for early training tomorrow. And that dance took all the energy out of me!”

A pang of disappointment struck Amity. “Okay, I guess.” She’d never say it aloud, but she desperately wanted to stay out. Now that her momentary bravery had left her, she wanted to see if there was a way she could get it back.

“You can walk back to the Owl House with me, if you want.”

“I’d love to.”

So they started off, and the whole way through the woods, their hands never separated. Amity quickly decided that holding hands with Luz was her new favorite thing in the whole world. (Okay, maybe second after being carried by her.) Why confess when they could always be like this? This was nearly perfect. The only thing that was missing was the knowledge that Luz liked her the same way she liked Luz. Was it really a worthy sacrifice?

It’d have to be, Amity thought, because she was running on a ticking time bomb.

They stopped in front of the entrance to the house and neither girl moved. Amity grew hopeful again. Maybe Luz  _ did  _ want to stay out as much as Amity did. Maybe she did just have to get up early. 

But she supposed it didn’t matter, because Luz eventually pulled her hand from Amity’s with a small smile. “I’ll see you soon, Amity. Sleep well.”

“You too.” Watching Luz turn her back and start for the door was saddening. Amity had never wanted the night to end. The cuddling, the dancing… it had been the stuff of dreams. “Wait,” she called before she could think better of herself. Luz stopped and turned around.

Amity walked briskly to Luz and placed a soft, lingering kiss on Luz’s cheek. “I hope we get to dance again soon.” She stepped back, her face burning. “Goodnight, Luz.”

Luz’s hand darted up to touch the spot Amity had kissed. She stared at Amity, dumbfounded, for a moment, almost as if she was at a loss for words. Eventually she forced out a “Goodnight, Amity,” and ducked inside the house.

When the door shut behind her, Amity realized she already missed Luz with something fierce.

___

Eda and King were on the couch looking rather sullen-faced when Luz walked in. “What happened?” she asked.

King sniffled pathetically and placed his claws over his eyes. “The babies!” he wailed.

Luz blinked, baffled, at Eda. “You really got attached to them, huh?”

“Maybe a little bit,” Eda grumbled. Her gaze was fixed forlornly on the huge chest filled to the brim with snails that sat in the center of the living room. “But at least we got paid.”

“It was just for the money,” King sniffed. “Only the money!” He burst into tears and Eda reached over to give him a reassuring pat on the top of his head.

“I’ll get you a book on empty-nest syndrome the next time I visit the library when it’s actually open,” Luz joked.

“Thanks, kid,” sighed Eda. “Speaking of the library,’ she added more sternly, “where have you been gallivanting off to the last few hours? King and I had to take care of the kids all by ourselves!”

“I was at the Wailing Star Festival.”

“With Amity?”

Luz blushed. “How did you know?”

“I know a smitten teenager when I see one,” Eda replied wryly. “I was one once, you know. New crush every week. Usually I won them over with my unbeatable charm, but some of them were challenging.”

“I don’t have a crush on Amity,” Luz said. She was  _ mostly  _ sure she was telling the truth. Sure, Amity was really pretty and Luz loved spending time with her, but that didn’t mean she had a  _ crush. _ Feelings were stupid, anyway. Anytime she had a crush back home she forced herself to suppress it since she knew that nobody would ever like her back. She thought it was very unfair of the universe to have made it so that she could like  _ everyone. _

“Keep telling yourself that, kid,” Eda muttered. “I’ve seen the way you look at each other.”

Luz tilted her head. “Well, she did kiss me on the cheek just now before I came inside.. And we danced at the festival.”

Eda burst into uproarious laughter. “You danced? She walked you home? And kissed you? Oh, honey…” She shook her head slowly. “Hey, King, you hearing this?” she asked the little demon. King sniffed and pressed his face into the pillow that he was holding.

“I don’t like Amity like that. And even if I did, she certainly wouldn’t either.”

“But she does.” Eda shrugged. “Oh well. You’re probably tired. Head to bed. You can sort out your feelings in the morning.”

Luz nodded. There was no point in arguing. “Okay. Goodnight, guys.”

She turned and started up the stairs. As she arrived in her room she realized that the familiar dull panic that had begun to build up in her chest over the last few weeks had suddenly gotten heavier. She tried to ignore it but as much as she focused on the present, she couldn’t escape the feeling that somehow, in some way, she was running out of time.  
  


_ End of Act I _

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter 13 spoilers without context: luz accidentally accepts the lead role in hexside’s production of carrie the musical


	12. Chapter 12

Leaves crunched under Amity’s feet as she made her way to the stairs that led up to Hexside’s student entrance.

_ Fall is almost here. I’m almost out of time. _

In the month that had passed since her… outing with Luz, she’d made almost no effort to further their relationship. She hadn’t known if she should bother or not. Surely after their time together at the festival, Luz had to have picked up on some clues and would maybe even make a move if she was interested, but she hadn’t acted any different towards Amity. Amity wasn’t sure how she could get the point across to Luz without directly stating it. Dancing with Luz, walking her home, and kissing her hadn’t done the trick… what else could she possibly do?

_ Do I  _ have  _ to spell it out directly? ‘Hey, Luz! I’m a time traveller and I’m in love with you maybe! Or at least about as in love as a high school freshman can possibly be! Sorry about the creepiness, but will you go out with me and help me with these romantic daydreams I’m probably not supposed to be having?’ No… I should probably leave out the bit about time travelling. Even if she absolutely had to know about that, she wouldn’t believe me. Best to only freak her out once. _

Amity was so caught up in her inner monologue that she didn’t notice that she’d reached the door until she smacked into a pillar next to it. 

Pain shot through her face and she was sent reeling, along with all the papers she’d been carrying, which fluttered to the ground. She couldn’t help but let loose a few profanities as she gathered them back up in arms. When she stood, her left cheek throbbed, and she winced when she touched it.  _ Great. My second time-travelling induced injury. _ She contemplated going to the healers’ office for a moment but decided against it, realizing she really just needed to get to class. She couldn’t afford to be late to anything on the first day of the fall semester. But, just in case, she checked her reflection in her scroll to make sure the injury wasn’t noticeable, and lo and behold, her cheek was very visibly swollen and bruised. She sighed. Kids would definitely notice  _ that. _

Before she could move, a hand wrapped itself around Amity’s arm. Amity leaped away, but she relaxed when she realized that it was none other than Luz herself. “Hi,” Amity said awkwardly. It even hurt to talk. She looked Luz up and down, noticing that Luz was wearing the gray-and-white uniform of a student who hadn’t yet been placed in a study track. “Did… you take your entrance exam yet?”

“Nope,” Luz replied cheerfully.

“Are you nervous?”

“No. I know four whole spells now. I’m a shoe-in.”

“Well, okay. Good luck, then.” Amity hoped Luz wouldn’t need it. After all, Luz knew two more spells this time around than she did last time she’d taken this exam- this attempt couldn’t possibly be  _ more _ horrible than the last.

Luz rolled her eyes. “Silly. You just  _ condemned  _ me. This is showbiz, you can’t wish me good luck.”

“It’s not… showbiz,” Amity said, confused. “This is school. Unless you join the bard track…”

“The  _ proper  _ way to help me to do my best is to tell me to break a leg. Speaking of breaking things,” Luz went on, “what happened to your face?”

“Oh.” Embarrassed, Amity shied away from Luz, suddenly self conscious. She didn’t really want to tell Luz that she’d been thinking about her so hard she ran into a pillar. “Uh, it was a failed… magic… spell?” She made it sound like more of a question than an answer, and Luz narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

“Did you run into that pillar?”

Biting her lip, Amity nodded. 

“Poor you. Does this hurt?” Luz asked, bringing her hand up to cup Amity’s cheek. “Aww, your face is all red! That must feel awful. You need to go to the healers’ office before class starts and get something put on that.” She placed her backpack on the ground and rummaged through it for a moment before producing a pencil and a sheet of paper. She sketched out a small ice glyph, created an ice cube the size of her palm, and passed it to Amity. “Hold this to the bruise until we get to the healer,” she instructed.

Amity did as she was told, ignoring the way the ice felt horribly frigid against the soft skin of her hand. “We?”

“I’m going with you.”

“What? Why?”

“Because you’re my friend and I don’t want to see you hurt.”

“But your entrance exam-”

“Bump will wait for me.” Luz sounded strangely self-assured.

“It’s only a bruise. It’ll be fixed with a spell. I’ll be okay-”

“Amity.” Luz touched Amity’s shoulder and looked the witchling straight in the eye. “I just want to make sure you’re alright.”

Amity let herself soften. This stern, protective side of Luz was one she didn’t get to see often, but she loved it more than she was willing to admit. “Okay.”

“Do you need any help with your bag?”

“No. It’s alright.”

Luz shouldered her own backpack and held out her hand. “Well, one of your hands is full, so too bad.” 

“You’re impossible,” Amity laughed and handed her backpack over. She could tell from the face Luz made that it was heavier than she expected. “Watch out for that Honors History textbook.”

“Little Miss Amity and her honors classes,” Luz teased. 

“I wonder if we’ll have any classes together when you get your schedule.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we did. I am pretty smart,” Luz agreed. “After all, I am friends with you. Great decision on my part. Ten outta ten.”

Amity turned away to hide her blush. “C’mon, you nerd. Let’s go now so that you’re not any later than you need to be.”

They walked to the healer together in silence. It wasn’t awkward, but Amity caught herself staring at Luz more than once. It was hard not to- Luz was just so… radiant. She was like the sun, or one of her own light spells- cheerful and warm and wonderful to be around. When Luz caught Amity staring, she flashed Amity a blinding grin, and Amity had to look away as quickly as possible to avoid combusting.

The healer’s office was a small building on the edge of the school grounds- inconveniently built as far away from the grudgby arena as possible. (Inconvenient for Luz, anyway, who had had to carry Amity the whole quarter mile to see the healer. Amity, though, had never been more grateful for Hexside’s bad construction decisions.) It was usually staffed by tired-looking upperclassmen from the healing track along with one professional member of the Healing Coven to assist with more major injuries, like burns or flus or broken ankles that resulted from witches watching their crush during grudgby instead of watching where they were actually supposed to be going.

Amity hoped that today’s lucky staff member would be Viney, but then she remembered that Viney was still a part of the detention track. That was supposed to be fixed today, right? Or was it next week? No, Next week was Grom.  _ This  _ week was the detention kid problem. Sometimes it was hard to keep track of all the heroic things Luz did, especially since she hadn’t been around to witness them all the first time.

They were greeted at the office door by a girl in healing track blue that Amity didn’t recognize. With a huge yawn, she asked what was wrong, and Luz told her that Amity had hurt her face by running into a pillar. “I can talk to them myself,” Amity muttered as they were led into an examination room. Luz, unfazed, shrugged.

“Sit down here and I’ll take a look at you,” the healer sighed. As soon as Amity sat herself down on the examination table, the healer spent a moment lightly poking at the bruise. The touch stung, and it didn’t spark the same thrill in her as Luz’s had done. 

“Just a bad bruise.” The healer shrugged. “I don’t know why you freshies always manage to get yourself hurt before eight o’clock in the freaking morning. I've been here for three hours and I’m pretty sure I’m still asleep.” She drew a small spell circle in the air and the pain on Amity’s cheek instantly disappeared. “There. Good as new. Get to class before your teachers miss you.”

“Thank you,” Amity said politely. She picked up her backpack before Luz could offer to carry it again and followed her crush back into the warm early morning air. 

As soon as they were back in the sunlight, Luz turned to Amity with an excited grin. “Time for me to become an official Hexside student!” she announced.

~

“What do you mean I can’t go in?”

Amity was standing outside the entrance to the Hexside auditorium, bristling indignantly while Principal Bump watched her with narrowed eyes. Luz stood a little behind her. “Amity, it’s okay-”

“No, it’s not. I worked hard to help you. I want to watch you succeed.”

“Amity, we’ve never permitted other students to watch entrance exams, even those as prodigious as you,” Bump said, lowering his voice to the  _ frustrated principal  _ tone that Amity knew from all the times her siblings had gotten in trouble. “You have to go to class and let Luz take her exam alone.”

“I’ll see you at lunch, Amity.” Luz’s voice was pleading. 

“If you even have a lunch period to go to!”

“Don’t you believe in me?”

“Of  _ course _ I believe in you.” Amity resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “I just want to be there for you. That’s all.”

“That’s enough of that,” Bump interjected sharply. “Miss Blight, go to class. Luz, follow me inside. We’ll get you in and out quickly and then you can go home, since you’re a human and you’ll probably fail since you can’t do magic anyway. And of course, Amity, I still need you during second period for that presentation for the Emperor's Coven inspector.”

Luz shot a sympathetic glance at Amity as she followed Bump inside the auditorium.

“Break a leg,” Amity whispered. She wasn’t sure if Luz heard her or not.

With Luz out of sight, she turned around and sprinted for the detention hallway.

There was one more thing she had to do before Luz’s test was done. 

~

_ He’s asleep. Right on schedule. _

Amity poked her head around the doorframe of the Detention Track room. The only three students in the track, Jerbo, Barcus, and of course Viney, were seated at the front table, staring dismally off into space, while their professor snored blissfully at his desk. The students didn’t spot her- she stayed just out of their line of sight. 

She couldn’t imagine going to school like this. Unable to learn, unable to talk, and stuck in that drab gray uniform, too. Knowing that Luz had spent even a day being part of this horrible track made her heart hurt.

Luz had said the door to the secret entrance was just to the left of the teacher’s desk. It was very well hidden, but Amity saw the grooves in the wall that indicated the door’s outline. If she could just convince the other three to take her on there, she could explain what they needed to do…

She tiptoed carefully into the room and gave a small wave, hoping to inconspicuously catch their attention. Viney jerked out of her trance immediately, and her eyes went wide when she saw Amity. She tapped Jerbo and Barcus on their shoulders and gestured the two of them to follow her. She met Amity by the hideout door. 

“Amity?” she whispered. “What’s going on?” 

“We’re in danger,” Amity replied. “I’ll explain everything, but you have to let me inside your hideout. I can explain better in there.” She jerked her head at the sleeping professor. “I don’t want anyone to hear.”

Viney exchanged suspicious glances with the other two. “How do you know about the hideout?”

“A friend told me.” Amity realized she’d have to explain that one later, too. “Just- you have to help me fight. But you’ve got to let me in.”

Viney glanced at Barcus. “Will you read her aura, please?”

Barcus growled softly. 

“He says she’s trustworthy,” Jerbo said. “He says, ‘Her aura is strong but easily breakable, like a brick wall held together by craft glue.’”

“Thank you, Barcus,” said Viney levelly.

Though she was beginning to grow nervous at the prospect of the danger she was about to face, Amity was suddenly trying not to laugh. This confident, self-assured Viney was so far from the nervous, flustered Viney with a crush she’d met at the festival. The detention kids had picked a good leader. (And Emira would be picking a good girlfriend.)

“Let’s go, then,” Viney went on, nodding tersely. She opened up the door and let Jerbo and Barcus inside, then followed Amity at her heels. “And don’t try anything funny,” she added.

“I’m trying to save you,” Amity pointed out.

“So what’s the danger?” Jerbo asked once they were safely inside the small round room. 

Amity didn't answer for a moment. She was too busy staring around the hideout, observing all the graffiti and doors that spiraled to the ceiling. These kids were so different from her, delinquents, underdogs, not perfect straight-A model students like she’d been raised to be. But Amity felt more at home here than she did within the brick walls of her own house. Maybe it was because Luz had liked it here so much.

“Well?” Viney broke in tetchily. 

Amity brought herself back to the present. “Right. There’s uh, there’s a Greater Basilisk loose in the school- or there will be in a few minutes- and you need to mix your magic to save L- I mean, everyone.”

Barcus barked in a way that almost resembled a laugh, and Viney arched an eyebrow questioningly. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I thought those were extinct,” Jerbo said.

“It was at Glandes. Now it’s here.”

Barcus barked again.

Jerbo translated for her. “He’s saying, ‘How do you know that?’”

“Yeah.” Viney narrowed her eyes. “How  _ do _ you know that? And why are you so calm about it? Do you have family at Glandes too? My cousin said she saw one there, but I didn’t believe her.”

Amity supposed that lie would have to do for now. “Yeah, I have a friend at Glandes. They warned me that the basilisk might come here next. I snuck into the auditorium this morning and saw it- in the witch form my friend described to me, of course. It’s disguising itself as the Emperor’s Coven inspector.”

“I don’t want to believe you, but we should probably play it safe,” Viney sighed. 

“And,” Amity said hurriedly, “if you prove to Bump that mixing magic is helpful, he might let you study it full time.”

“You definitely know more than you should,” muttered Jerbo.

Amity was distracted from the detention kids’ suspicion. An odd, bitter smell had reached her nose, sharp and starkly repugnant. Before she could ask the others about it, the bell began to scream. This certainly wasn’t the passing period bell, though. It was higher-pitched and even more ear-splitting- the sound Amity heard only once a month, during school- mandated fire drills.

“What the-” Viney began. 

_ Luz. _ Amity’s stomach dropped. “We need to go now,” she snapped. “Everyone out.”

Barcus howled.  _ What did you do, strange mint-haired girl? _

She flung open the hideout door and slid back into the classroom, Viney, Jerbo, and Barcus following. She was about to make for the window, but the door to the classroom was flung open, so she turned that way instead. Even with an ash-covered face, Amity immediately recognized the girl who had appeared in the doorway.

“Amity,” Luz coughed, “I failed my entrance exam.” Then she collapsed onto the hard tile floor. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *bonks luz over the head* i diagnose you with suffer


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is probably the last time i’ll post this week, tomorrow is my last marching band game and i’ll be at kings island over the weekend (if anyone else is there by chance come say hi, i’ll be the one dressed as luz!) so i’ll try for monday or tuesday :) this is where things really start ramping up- i’ve got a final chapter count of about 20-22 depending on how many episodes i have to split into two

“Luz!” The thoughts Amity was forming of escaping fled her mind as she ran forward to scoop up her friend. As she cradled Luz’s head to her chest, she spotted the flames that rose in the hallway, licking the walls and engulfing the lockers.  _ What- how?  _ The fire was everywhere, consuming everything, as if it had been burning for hours. Students dashed through the hallway, wailing in fear and searching frantically for an exit. “Luz, what did you do?”

“It was only one fire spell,” Luz rasped. “How was I supposed to know the curtain was flammable?”

“You’re such an  _ idiot _ ,” Amity snapped. For once, she didn’t mean it playfully. She glanced around at the three detention students, who were frozen in shock and fear. The professor was nowhere to be seen. “Viney,” she said, “make sure everyone gets outside as fast as possible. Hopefully the fire will kill the basilisk before  _ we _ have to. I'll take Luz to the healer.” She hoped that since the healing building was built so far away from the main school, it would still be untouched and unburnt.

To her surprise, Viney shook her head. “I’ll get Luz to the healer. You stay here so that you can fight the basilisk if you need to. Try to lure it outside. I know that you’re really good with magic, right? If this thing really exists, we stand the best chance if you’re the one fighting it.”

“But you're a beastkeeper.”

“I’m also a healer,” Viney reminded her. “I’ll take care of Luz until we get to the professionals.”

Amity huffed. “Never mind. We can’t afford to argue about it.” In an admittance of defeat, she passed Luz’s limp body over to Viney. Viney took Luz in her arms and held her close. “Please keep her safe,” Amity whispered.

“I will.” Viney’s eyes clouded with sorrow. “This looks bad, Amity.”

_ You didn’t need to tell me that.  _ “Then let’s go. We’ll climb out the windows in here and make sure everyone else is getting out safely.”

“Don’t try,” Jerbo said flatly when Amity crossed the room and began tugging on the window’s iron bars. “They’re magic. We pulled on those things for hours every day last semester. They’re totally student-proof.”

Amity whirled to face him. “What? So you’re telling me we have to go  _ through _ the school? You’re going to get us killed! There has to be a way to disable the spell-”   
“We’ve got no choice. I’m sorry.”

“Fine, then. But getting Luz outside takes  _ first  _ priority.” She spared one more look at the small, crumpled form of Luz in Viney’s arms, and instantly felt tears welling up behind her lower eyelids. “I don’t care what or who we sacrifice in the process.”

That remark seemed to sting Viney, and she opened her mouth to protest. Jerbo nudged her arm gently. “She didn’t mean it. She’s grieving, Viney.”

Viney looked as if she wanted to say something anyway, but she clearly thought better of herself. “Okay,” she said finally. “Let's go.”

The students ducked quickly into the hallway. Scorching heat hit Amity’s face and made her eyes water. There was a significantly large flame engulfing one of their exits- the plant wing- and students clad in green tumbled out of it like a fast-flowing river, most of them coughing or yelling in terror.

_ One fire spell did all this? How has it not been controlled yet? _

Amity let herself watch the plant students escape before she realized there was one witch she hadn’t seen run out with the others.

“Go on without me,” she instructed the group. “Follow the plant track kids. I’ll catch up in a moment.”  _ I hope. _

“I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but stop trying to play the hero, Amity,” Viney protested. “You’ll only get yourself hurt.”

Amity shook her head. “I’m only doing what Luz would do.” Without waiting for a response, she whirled around and sprinted into the plant wing, leaving her bewildered companions behind, hoping that they would find a way out as quickly as possible.

It was even hotter in the cramped plant hallway than it was in the high-ceilinged area outside the detention room. It was much harder to see, too, and a few tears finally leaked from Amity’s eyes when she struggled to blink the floating cinders away. She tried to keep herself low to the ground and as far from the scorching flames that crawled up the wall as possible. A muted shade of gray covered everything around her, but she tried to stay attentive in case she found who she was looking for. She searched to no avail, though. The wing seemed to be empty, its inhabitants seemingly already escaped. 

Amity was just about to give up and turn around when a small cough sounded behind her. 

_ Willow. _

Desperately she fought her way through the smoke and listened to the coughing growing louder. After a moment, she found Willow sitting with her back to a locker. Amity’s heart soared. She’d been right. 

Strangely enough, the coughing was not coming from Willow herself, but from a small plant sitting by Willow’s feet. “There, there,” Willow soothed. “It’s okay. We’ll find a way out soon.” She stroked its leaves tenderly, seemingly unfazed by the danger that surrounded her, instead caught up in tending to her semi-sentient plant friend.

“Willow,” Amity whispered. She held out her hand. “Follow me. I know a way out.”

Willow jumped. “Wha- who are you?”

_ She must not be able to see me through the smoke.  _ “It’s just Amity. C’mon, Willow. We need to get out of here. Luz is waiting for us.”

“Luz?”

“Yeah. Viney’s taking care of her.” She couldn’t fathom the thought that she might already be too late.  _ How did it come to this? _ It already felt like centuries since their outing to the healers’ that morning- and millennia since the beautiful night they’d spent together at the festival.

Willow looked a little doubtful, but she tucked her plant under her arm and placed her hand in Amity’s anyway.

Amity brought Willow to her feet and dragged her out of the plant wing as fast as she could, dodging plumes of smoke along the way. They saw no other students, and Amity hoped that it was only because they’d already found a way out. When they emerged, chests heaving for breath, into the huge central foyer of the school, they reassessed the situation. Amity noticed with panic that the front doors- their best way out- were blocked by a gigantic wall of flame.  _ No. _ She surveyed their surroundings frantically, hoping to find another way to escape.

“We’re trapped,” Willow croaked. 

“No, we’re not.” Amity pointed to a wide window just left of the doors. “That window’s open. It’s a little high up, but if I can cast a levitation spell, we-”

As she spoke, a rafter high above the window creaked loudly. The world slowed, and the two girls could only watch as the rafter dislodged itself from the ceiling and crashed to the ground, blocking their exit and sending up a shower of embers where it fell. Willow recoiled and covered her ears. One of the embers landed on Amity’s hand, singing her pale skin, and she leapt back with a hiss of agony. 

“Now what?” Willow cried. 

“We’ve got to keep searching,” Amity said through gritted teeth. The pain of her burn was dizzying. She steeled herself as her head spun.  _ Do not pass out. Do not pass out. Luz is waiting for you. _ “There has to be a way out. There has to be.”

“I can’t see anything.” Willow took a step closer to Amity.

Amity realized that Willow was right. The window was covered, the front doors were on fire, and the entrances to each hallway were consumed by flame that was encroaching on the two of them the longer they stood there. “You’re right,” she said hoarsely. “We’re stuck.”

Willow shut her eyes. “I’m sorry, Amity. I’m sorry I couldn’t get us out.”

Amity took one look at Willow’s apologetic expression and immediately collapsed to her knees and began to sob. 

For a moment, the foyer was silent, save for the sound of Amity’s tears and the crackling of the fire.

“Amity?” Willow said meekly when a moment had passed. She sunk to the ground and placed her hand on Amity’s shoulder. “Amity, we can still try to get out of here, right? I’m sure there’s a way. We need to keep searching.”

“Don’t bother, Willow.” Speaking felt like being strangled. Amity didn’t want to admit defeat. She didn’t want to admit that there was nothing more she could do than sit here and wait for the blaze to engulf her. And most of all, she didn’t want to admit that it had been  _ her  _ meddling with time that had ended up getting herself and Willow killed, possibly fatally injuring Luz, and endangering up to hundreds of other students. 

She knew that witches’ bile sacs could send magic into the bloodstream to ward off toxic chemicals one might have happened to inhale, but that defense would get overpowered eventually, leaving her helpless. She could already feel the strength in her limbs ebbing away. It was only a matter of minutes before she gave way to unconsciousness.

“But…” Willow’s strength seemed to be draining by the second as well. “We can’t just give up.”

“I failed. We have to.” Amity pressed herself closer to Willow and rested her cheek on the top of Willow’s head. “Sit with me a moment,” she whispered. 

Willow seemed surprised at the touch, but she leaned into it after a moment, probably accepting that this was the last moment she’d ever spend with Amity. It was a quiet statement of acceptance- a silent forgiveness that Amity knew she didn’t deserve. 

“I guess I should probably say something about the last few years,” Amity began. “I don’t like that this is how I have to apologize. But I-” She broke off to cough. “You were a wonderful friend, Willow. I never should have just cut you off like that. I called you weak. But you weren’t the weak one. I was. I still am.” She paused to wipe a tear from her eye with her unburnt hand. “I came looking for you because I know that Luz would, if she’d been able to. I wanted to do one good thing for you, but I understand if it’s not enough. So I’m sorry. Take this to be my formal apology, but if you don’t want to forgive me, I understand.”

Willow took in one rattling breath and exhaled. Amity braced herself for a reprimand- if not for her childhood treatment of Willow, then at least for endangering Willow’s life- but Willow didn’t seem to be angry at all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.

Amity startled. “What?”

“I don’t even know who you are,” Willow said hoarsely. “I don’t know an Amity, or a Luz. I didn’t know we were friends. I just know my plant I saved from the plant classroom, and that my chest really hurts.”

Amity let out another choked cry.

Willow blinked at her slowly. “But thanks for trying to save me.”

“There’s still time. We can- we can try another wing.” Amity knew very well that every wing of the school was blocked off, but she needed to boost Willow’s spirits, she needed to keep Willow awake for a moment longer. “We can still make that window.” And yet, she knew they couldn’t. Her dominant hand- the one she could draw spell circles with- was burned and useless now, and her vision was too fuzzy to focus on anything.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. A low growl emanated from somewhere behind them. Something massive was crawling towards them.

“What’s that?” cried Willow.

Amity knew that there was currently only one creature loose in Hexside that would be making that much noise. Willow made no attempt to move away from her. Maybe it was better that the plant witch didn’t know the danger she was in. Perhaps it would make her final moments more peaceful. 

“If you make it out of here, and I don’t,” Amity rasped to Willow, “find Luz and tell her that Amity loves her.”

As darkness overcame her, one last thought flitted across her mind.

_ Basilisks are fireproof. _

_ Of course. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> slow burn (literally)


	14. Chapter 14

Only a moment later, the sound of shattering glass drew Amity back to consciousness. 

Her vision was still hazy when she opened her eyes, and every muscle from the top of her head to the tips of her toes wailed in agony, but nevertheless, she was  _ alive. _

_ The basilisk. _

Amity tried to pull herself to her feet, or at least make herself sit up, but she could barely feel her limbs. For a moment, she lay helplessly clawing at the floor. Out of the corner of her vision she could see Willow struggling to her feet. The dark presence of the basilisk loomed over them both, and with a surge of fear Amity realized that Willow was going to try to fight it. What else could she possibly be doing?

And what about Willow’s memory? Did she even  _ remember  _ any magic?

“Get away from my friend!” Willow yelled- though with smoke filling her lungs, it came out as nothing more than a harsh whisper. “Back off!”

_ Willow, that’s not going to do anything. _

The basilisk regarded Willow with a contemptuous look for a moment, and then it lunged at her, opening its jaws and revealing fangs that glinted in the light of the fire.

She wanted to yell, to scream at the witch to stop, tell her that she was going to be killed if she persisted, but her voice wouldn’t come to her. She was petrified _. _

Without her magic, Willow surely wouldn’t survive her injuries.

And then, quick as lightning, there was another.

A girl wearing yellow and concealed within what looked like some sort of magical fireproof force field dashed between Willow and the basilisk and scooped Willow into her arms before making a run for the doors, which had been broken open. As she ran the girl drew a spell circle and summoned what appeared to be a large levitating cauldron through the opening. Shouldering all of Willow’s weight in one arm, she used the other to toss the cauldron at the flames covering the entrance. Liquid splashed out and the fire was extinguished.

The girl turned to look at Amity. “Let’s go,” she snapped.

For a moment Amity could do nothing but stare at surprise at her three-eyed rescuer.

“Follow me and then forget this ever happened,” Boscha growled. “Unless you want to just lay here and die.”

The basilisk turned its malignant stare on Boscha. “ _ You’re muchhhhh stronger than the others,”  _ it hissed, but before it could make a dive for her, Boscha drew another circle and the basilisk screeched, falling to the ground and gripping its long neck as if it were choking. A few strangled, guttural cries came from its throat. Then it thrashed once and fell still.

“Problem solved. You’re welcome,” Boscha said. “Now get over here.”

Amity struggled, but still could not find the strength to move. The cheek she’d previously hurt was pressed to the warm floor, and she could feel her breathing growing shallower again.

She could have sworn she saw Boscha roll her eyes. The three-eyed witch spun and ran down the steps of the school. She gingerly placed Willow at the bottom of the steps, well away from the fire, and quickly returned for Amity. She didn’t tenderly carry Amity the way she had Willow- rather she grabbed Amity’s arm and not-so-gently yanked her to her feet. 

In the motion, her fingers brushed Amity’s burnt hand, causing Amity to wince. Amity’s valiant rescuer showed no reaction.

Together, the two girls stumbled into the sunlight. Amity took a gigantic gulp of fresh(er) air and slid to the ground. Her breaths came fast and short as she leaned up against a stair, but she was breathing, she was  _ alive, _ and to her, that was a miracle of all miracles. If only Luz was here to see-

_ Luz.  _ All of Amity’s worries crowded back into the forefront of her mind. Had Viney and the others made it out? Was Luz okay? Was she being cared for? Had she woken up yet? 

“Boscha, where’s Luz?” she croaked.

Boscha shrugged. “Dunno. Probably in the hospital with the other three thousand students and teachers she burned alive.”

The hospital? “Is she… you know… ?”

“Lighten up, no one’s died, even her,” Boscha muttered, then added, “yet.”

Amity exhaled and let her eyelids flutter shut. Even if Boscha couldn’t have faith that Luz would make it,  _ she  _ would. She knew strong, resilient Luz could make it through anything.

“Oh, look. Here’s our ride.”

Amity peeked her eyes open. A witch she didn’t know was flying towards them on a staff, the wings of its palisman, an eagle, spread wide in flight. The witch, whose face was hidden under a beaked Emperor's Coven mask, stopped at the bottom of the stairs and addressed Boscha. “Is this the last of them?”

Boscha gave the witch a curt nod. “The extinguishing potion worked, and I was able to get in. The school should be empty now.”

“Good. Can they climb on themselves, or do they need help?”

Even the prospect of seeing Luz again didn’t give enough strength back to Amity, but Willow was already standing. She had one hand on the railing to keep herself from falling. “Where are we going?”

“The Bonesborough Hospital,” the Coven member replied.

Willow blinked. “Why?”

“Because you’ll die if we don’t.”

“Ooooh.”

Boscha flashed a questioning glance at Amity. Amity shook her head.

The Coven witch flicked her wrist and levitated Amity and Willow so that they were balanced behind her on the staff. As they lifted off, Amity wrapped her arms around Willow and leaned into her friends’(?) back. The sensation of soaring high above the ground only made her nauseous, but she supposed the breeze felt nice after spending several minutes trapped amidst unbearable heat.

The ride seemed to stretch on for eons, since every heartbeat that passed was a moment closer that Amity was to Luz. They couldn’t have been in the air for more than five minutes, but by the time they touched down in front of the hospital, Amity’s feet were inching to run inside. If she’d been physically able to, she probably would have.

“Okay, you two, we’re going to get you inside and healed as quickly as possible. The healers have told me that magic won’t immediately fix everything, especially… in more serious cases like yours…” the Coven witch said grimly. “You’ll probably be out of school for a few days. Actually, you definitely will. The place is practically burned to the ground.” She laughed facetiously. 

“Please. Everything hurts,” Willow groaned.

Amity, too, could feel the effects of her escape-induced adrenaline wearing off. Her whole body felt burnt, not just her hand that the rogue ember had scalded. Even though she had been out of Hexside for a solid 30 minutes, her ears still buzzed and her head continued to pound. She prayed to the stars that Luz hadn’t had to endure this.

The Coven witch twirled her finger and suddenly Amity was airborne, floating a few feet above the ground. She let herself relax a bit. This bubble wasn’t exactly the strong arms of her crush, but it’d have to do.

~

Two hours later Amity found herself drifting in and out of a light doze, tucked into an uncomfortable bed and paper gown that nearly matched the shade of her hair. Every so often nurses in dark blue would come in and wrap her in another bandage or slather on another ointment or check her burns or make sure she was still breathing, but she barely registered any of it. In sleep and out of it, she saw Luz’s ash-dark face in her mind’s eye, and her crush’s pained expression as she lay limply in Viney’s arms. If only Amity could get any tidbit of information about Luz’s whereabouts…

A blurry shape approached her bed just as she was about to drift into unconsciousness again. She felt too exhausted to open her eyes all the way, but felt the light touch of a hand on her shoulder and she reached up to touch it with her own.

“Luz?” she murmured blearily.

There was a soft chuckle from her visitor. “Sorry, Mittens.”

“We just got back from her room, though,” said another voice.

“Em? Ed?” Amity lifted her head from her pillow. “You’re okay.” A heavy sensation of relief settled in her stomach. “You made it out.”

“We were doing outdoor illusions practice, seeing how far away we could conjure an illusion,” Ed explained. “As soon as we saw the fire break out…”

“...we called the healing coven and had them come straight away,” Em finished. “I’m so glad you’re alright. I was so worried…”

It was touching to see that her siblings had been so concerned for Amity’s well-being. They hardly showed it on the surface, but Amity knew the twins really and truly loved her, and she loved them back just as much. “I was worried about you too.”

“No you weren’t,” Ed scoffed.

“What? Of course I was. You're my siblings!”

“You thought I was Luz at first,” Em pointed out.

“Well, I was worried about her too!”

“You don’t need to be.” Em’s tone was far gentler than Amity was used to. “She’s awake and she’s much better than she was when she first arrived. She was the only student other than you and Willow that needed urgent attention- all the others have already been sent home with burn cream and antibiotics. Viney told me that the bile defense system prevented a lot of bad injuries. Since Luz is human, and since you and Willow were inside for so long, the three of you got the worst of it. You’ll all be fine, though.”

Amity briefly recalled Willow’s amnesia. She didn’t feel anywhere near ready to deal with that problem yet. “How is Willow?” 

Ed shrugged. “She must have hit her head or something. She didn’t know who we were when we went to see how she was doing, she just said a nice girl named Amity helped her get out of the fire, and- get this- ‘ _ a pretty girl with three eyes rescued me.’ _ She was talking about Boscha! Can you believe it? Willow saying something nice about Boscha?”

“I think it’s even weirder that Boscha rescued her to begin with,” Em put in. 

“We’ll have to talk to her later to find out exactly what happened,” Amity muttered. She had a sneaking suspicion, of course.

“Luz is two rooms down the hall. Do you think you can walk?” Asked Ed.

Amity flexed one leg, then the other. They both felt alright, if not a little weak, but she hoped she could make it for Luz if nothing else. 

Her heart soared. She was so  _ close.  _ She could practically hear Luz’s cheerful voice in her ears already _. _ “I think so,” she said. “But you should probably ask the doctor first. Just to make sure.”

“C’mon, Mittens.” Ed flashed her a mischievous grin. “A little adventure never hurt anyone.”

“One spell practically burned all of Hexside to the ground.”

“So that’s what happened… it was Luz, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, but it wasn’t really her fault. She’s inexperienced and she made a mistake. She-”

“Let’s get a move on,” Em interjected. “You can go be sappy with your girlfriend and we can go home and do the homework that we  _ still  _ somehow have.”

Amity nodded, too exhausted to argue with their use of the word  _ girlfriend _ , and slowly pulled herself out of the bed. Her socked feet touched the cold tile floor as she grabbed onto the bed rail to steady herself. She had to support herself like that all the way to the doorway, but once she made it into the hallway, she found herself stepping more confidently, albeit with a slight tremor in her knees every few paces.

Em and Ed followed her all ten feet to Luz’s room. She stopped outside the doorway, suddenly hesitant. What if Luz wasn’t as alright as the twins had said? Was Amity really ready to see the horrible repercussions of her actions?

“What’s wrong, Mittens?”

Amity turned to face her siblings. “Luz really is okay... right?”

The twins nodded in unison.

“Good.” Amity inhaled, then exhaled. She’d be okay.  _ Luz _ would be okay. ”Wait out here, please. I’ll be out in a minute.”

“More like a million minutes,” Ed said under his breath.

Amity stepped through the door frame. The room wasn’t very big, and the first thing that caught her eye was the small bed in the corner and the stool that sat next to it. On top of the bed lay Luz. Her gray uniform was torn and dirty, and her hair was messy. Her dark skin looked nearly as healthy as it always did, though, finally wiped clean of soot, and a large bandage was stuck to her forehead. She was asleep, and for a moment Amity found herself watching the faint rise and fall of her chest. Her breaths were deep and even. The twins were right. She did seem okay.

Amity took a seat on the stool and continued to watch the human, trying to think of something to say. Luz probably wouldn’t hear her, but she couldn’t just sit here in silence, and she certainly wasn’t going to leave. There was too much she felt like she needed to explain, but Amity couldn’t really find the will to say any of it, so in an attempt to force the words out, she began with a simple, “Hi, Luz.”

Luz didn’t budge.

“I’m sorry you didn’t pass your exam,” Amity continued. From there, the words just kept tumbling out. These thoughts, these compliments, they had been budding within her chest for so long, and once the floodgates finally broke open, she found that she couldn’t stop. “I’ll talk to Bump and get you in as soon as the Construction Coven repairs the school, I promise, and then you can study everything, just like you said you wanted to. You’ll be Hexside’s top student in no time. You’ve certainly got the brains for it. You’re the smartest girl I know, Luz.”

There was no response.

“I was so worried about you, but I’m glad Viney took care of you while I was… absent. Never- I don’t think I’ve ever been more terrified for anyone in my whole life… I just couldn't bear the thought of something happening to you. Especially since it would have been my fault, I… I taught you that fire spell. I almost cost you your life. I understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore. Friends… friends shouldn’t almost get each other killed. I’ve been awful to you. You deserve better. This was never supposed to happen.”

Amity didn’t realize that she was crying until she felt a tear hit the bandage on her burnt hand. She opened her mouth to say something more, but no words came. She bowed her head and cried quietly for a moment, gripping the edge of the stool.

“Sorry,” she sniffled when the tears finally began to slow. “I shouldn’t have bothered you while you were napping. I’ll go now. Feel better soon.” She approached Luz’s bedside and leaned down, kissing the bandage on Luz’s forehead and ever so slightly touching Luz’s cheek. “Sleep well, Luz.”

Luz’s eyelids fluttered open, but Amity didn’t notice, as she was already turning to leave.

“Wait!”

Amity stopped. She turned back. Luz was struggling to sit up in her bed, her eyes wide and brimming with tears. “Amity, don’t go! You just got here!”

“Luz.” The name came out as more of a choking noise than a word. “Luz…”

Luz opened her arms, and Amity fell straight into them. She was, of course, careful to be gentle, since Luz was probably still in pain. Even her voice was still hoarse and raspy.

“Luz, I was so scared.”

“I'm okay.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Everyone fails a test once in a while.”

Amity wiped one tear out of her eye. “That’s different. I endangered you and the entire school. You almost died because of me.”

Luz tilted her head to the side. “How do you figure?”

“...I helped you find the glyph for the fire spell.”

“And I cast it. I’m the one that should be sorry.”

“No, Luz!” Amity leaned back and took Luz’s face gently in her hands to make the other girl look straight at her. “You can’t blame yourself. I literally will not let you. I will not let you feel any semblance of guilt until the entire Boiling Isles freezes over.”

Luz didn’t reply. She stared pointedly at Amity for a moment, chocolate brown eyes boring into golden ones. “Okay.”

Amity was so close that she could see every fleck of color in those brown eyes. She was hypnotized. She never wanted to look away, never wanted to stop feeling Luz’s soft skin under her hands, never wanted to worry the way she had been worrying since that morning. She just wanted Luz.

But she was still so  _ scared _ . Scared of herself, and scared of the power the time spell had granted her. Only the slightest alteration to this timeline had nearly killed the girl she’d come all the way back here for in the first place. Who knew what else she could possibly mess up when she was only trying to help?

She put her hands back down at her sides. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Luz replied. She regarded Amity curiously for a moment longer. Then she reached out with one hand, cupped Amity’s chin, and pressed their lips together. 

For a second, Amity couldn’t process what was happening. Luz’s lips were so soft, so warm- this was everything she’d ever daydreamed about, but it was better, because it was real. She kissed Luz back with everything she had- all her pent-up guilt, her fear, all the things she had been unable to say to Luz in the time they’d known each other.

When Luz pulled away, her eyes were brimming with tears. “We still have each other. Isn’t that what matters?”

“Yes,” Amity whispered. “I guess it is.” And she kissed Luz again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS CHAPTER IS SPONSORED BY MY BESTEST BROSKI ELI ( https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elderon/pseuds/Elderon ) SHE DID SUCH A GREAT JOB EDITING AND IM SO GRATEFUL FOR HER <3333 SHE HAS SOME GREAT LUMITY STUFF SO PLEASE GO GIVE HER THE LOVE SHE DESERVES
> 
> ALSO IF U COMMENT I WILL CRY HAPPY TEARS THANK U


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m SO sorry about this lmao

Just as Amity was about to lean in and kiss Luz for a third time, a voice from the doorway interrupted her.

“Amity, you have to go back to your room. You haven’t been permitted to leave yet.”

Amity spun around and stared at the ground in front of the nurse who had entered. Had they seen anything?  _ Now wouldn’t that be a fate worse than being burned alive? _ “Yeah- well-” she sputtered.

The nurse raised an eyebrow.

“Fine, I’ll go.” Amity touched Luz’s shoulder briefly. “Let’s… let’s talk later,” she suggested.

Luz smiled. “Okay.”

Amity followed the nurse back to her own room, sparing one last forlorn glance over her shoulder at Luz, whose eyes had widened in astonishment and was raising one hand to touch her lips.

When she was back in her own bed in her own empty room, Amity’s mind began to race.

_ Luz likes me back. _

She pictured the desperate expression on Luz’s soft features as she’d pulled away from their first kiss.

She never would have guessed on her own. All of Luz’s friendliness had seemingly portrayed nothing but platonic feelings. She supposed it had helped that she and Luz had started off as friends here- in the other timeline, Luz never would have felt anything romantic towards her, not after they’d been poised as rivals for so long. But now it was true. The shadows in the corners of her mind could protest all they wanted, tell her that it was only trauma and confusion that had pushed Luz to kiss her, but she knew that the look in Luz’s eyes told a different story.

_ I don’t need to be scared anymore.  _

Amity said the words to herself silently, and then repeated them out loud.

“I don’t need to be scared anymore.”

_ Grom has lost. The Isles are safe. _

“Who are you talking to?”

Amity jumped, then scowled when she saw Boscha leaning against the wall just next to the door. “What are  _ you _ doing here?”

“Same as you, I guess.” Boscha looked down to distractedly admire her nails. “Sneaking into closed hospital rooms to make out with their occupants.”

Amity’s face went beet red. “We didn’t- how did you know- we only kissed  _ twice-”  _ she sputtered.

“Wait, really?” Boscha’s three eyes stretched wide in surprise. “I was actually only guessing. That’s hilarious, though. I mean, it explains why you’ve been sitting here for the past few minutes staring at the wall and blushing like a tomato.”

“You’ve been  _ spying  _ on me?”

“I guess you can say that. But you’re just  _ so _ funny.”

“Get out of my room.” Amity pointed stiffly to the door. “Now.”

Boscha groaned. “Alright, fiiine. But you might want to know that Willow’s asking for you. I wasn’t going to tell you to go see her, but if you’re strong enough to make it to Luz’s room I’m sure you can make it to the only room that’s closer. Even if Willow isn’t your girlfriend.”

Amity narrowed her eyes. “How do you know Willow wants me?”

“Duh. I was visiting her and telling her that just because I saved her life doesn’t mean I owe her any more kindnesses in the future,” Boscha replied matter of factly. “You know, I think she might have concussed herself when you guys were trapped in the school.”

“Isn’t that what everyone thinks.”

“It was crazy,” Boscha went on as if Amity hadn’t spoken. “She had no idea who I was. And I’ve made  _ sure  _ she could never forget me.”

Amity rolled her eyes. 

“Anyway, I’ve got to go. I’m almost late for a sleepover with my friends, who, by the way, are completely uninjured because they were smart enough to get out of the burning school as soon as they smelled smoke. Toodles!” the potions witch said cheerfully, and slipped into the hallway before Amity could get a word in edgewise.

Amity slipped out of the bed and limped to the door. “Boscha, wait.”

Boscha, who was only a few feet away from the exit stairwell, paused and turned.   
“You’re coming with me.” Amity tried to sound more confident than she sounded. “You're going to apologize to Willow.”

“Apologize?” Boscha crossed her arms. “What for?”

“Uh, I don’t know, maybe the fact that you’ve made her freshman year a living hell, and you’ve been tormenting her since we were eight, not to mention-”

“She’s a dork. She deserves it.”

Amity’s lips quirked into an ironic smile. “That’s not what you used to think.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just come with me. An apology might not make her forgive you- in fact, I don’t think it even should- but maybe you’ll get something out of it.”

Boscha snorted. “Thanks, but no thanks. I have plans tonight for the most epic First Day of Second Semester party  _ ever. _ And you’re not invited.”

“I’ll tell the whole school about the eighth grade Grudgby semifinals.”

“Ugh, you’re so annoying!” Boscha kicked at the ground with one foot in frustration. “Fine, I’ll go with you. But only for a moment. And you’d better not say anything about the semifinals to a  _ soul. _ ”

“Sounds good to me,” Amity said, shrugging.

Feeling slightly smug- it had been awfully clever to use the semifinal incident as a bargaining point- Amity led Boscha into the room she guessed was Willow’s, since it was the one between her’s and Luz’s. Willow was on her bed, splayed out on her back, peacefully snoozing and clutching her thin pillow to her chest. Amity was glad that Willow was already asleep. That would make this whole process much easier.

She just hoped she could remember what she’d seen Eda do to cast the spell.

Boscha cast a sidelong glance at Amity. “What do you want me to say? She’s asleep. Are you going to wake her up?”

“We’re not going to wake her up.”

“Then what’s the point of apologizing?”

“You’re not apologizing out here.” Amity drew a wide spell circle around the two of them. It took a bit of concentration- due to her recovery zapping a good bit of her magical energy- to get it right, but she managed it, and as soon as pale pink light began to rise up around them, she knew she'd done it perfectly.

Boscha opened her mouth to ask another question, but the two witches were zapped into nothingness, and the light disappeared.

Amity opened her eyes to find herself in a familiar forest glade. Trees lined a long grassy path on either side of them, each adorned with a grayscale picture frame. Just like last time, she could see burns in the very fabric of Willow’s mind.

“What did you do?” Boscha shrieked. She turned in a frantic circle, analyzing their surroundings. “Where are we?”

“We’re inside Willow’s mind,” Amity replied proudly. She was astonished that she’d actually pulled off the spell after seeing it performed only once, by the most skilled witch on the Isles no less.

“WHAT?”

Amity gestured to the nearest photo, a picture of much younger Amity, Willow, and Boscha standing at the top of Hexside’s elementary playground. “Before you freak out and destroy something, let me explain. These pictures are Willow’s memories. Physical copies of them that she must have created in photo class- though I thought she wasn’t going to be doing that project until tomorrow, but whatever- were probably burned in the fire, and if memory photos are burned, the memory is damaged in the witch’s mind, too. And we’re here to fix them.”

“Why is that  _ our  _ job?” Boscha scoffed. 

“Because I’m the only person other than Eda the Owl Lady who knows how to do it.” Amity poked Boscha’s arm. “And  _ you _ owe Willow an apology. Don’t worry- I promise you she can hear you from in here.” 

“This is really weird and I don’t trust you, but whatever. How do we fix her stupid memories so we can leave?”

“Fixing the memories won’t do anything yet. We have to find Inner Willow and make peace with her first.”

“This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.”

A crash sounded from behind a tree on the far side of the clearing. “There she is,” Amity muttered. 

“Stupid Willow can’t even walk quiet,“ Boscha snickered.

The wide outline of the fire creature Amity knew housed Inner Willow-though this time it was made of organic golden fire rather than the magic pink flames Amity could conjure- peeked its head around a tree several yards away from the two girls. “Get behind me,” Amity warned.

“What? Why-”

The fire creature’s eyes locked on Boscha and narrowed maliciously. With a ground-shaking roar it threw itself towards them, but not before Amity could cast a spell circle to draw an abomination from the ground that matched the fire beast’s height. The abomination leapt at the creature, smothering it immediately, and Amity commanded the abomination to return to the ground. Inner Willow was left standing in the creature’s placem looking none too happy to see them.

“Willow.” Amity bowed her head slightly. “I’m really sorry about what happened to your memories, but we-”

“You!” Inner Willow hissed. She locked her eyes on Boscha. “You shouldn’t be here!”

“Willow-” Amity started.

“You’ve made my life miserable.” Inner Willow summoned a fireball with one hand and launched it straight at Boscha. “So now I’m going to show you all the fire you showed me for the past six years!”

“Wait!” Amity threw herself between Inner Willow and Boscha. Haphazardly she conjured up a forcefield to block the attack. The fireball blew her shield to pieces, but luckily, she and Boscha were safe. Boscha threw her a look of astonishment. “Willow, we just want to talk,” Amity said levelly.

Inner Willow had summoned another fireball, but she let it evaporate. “Really? You want me to talk with  _ her?”  _ she spat, indicating Boscha.

“She wants to apologize.”

“What she’s done goes a long way beyond an apology!”

“I’m sorry?” Boscha offered.

“Not helping, Boscha,” said Amity.

“Sorry? For what?” Inner Willow took a menacing step towards the pair. “For tormenting me? For alienating me from any potential friend? For making me doubt myself so horribly that I actually began to fail?”

“Yeah, um… sorry I was so mean,” Boscha said.

“And to think that being mean wasn’t even the worst part of it!” Inner Willow snarled. “If you don’t remember what the worst part was, I’ll show you myself, and hope you feel every ounce as embarassed and humiliated as I did!” She summoned a picture frame off a tree trunk with one hand and levitated Boscha and Amity into the air with the other. 

“Wait!” Boscha wailed.

Inner Willow ignored Boscha’s protest. Boscha and Amity were sent catapulting toward the picture. Amity screwed her eyes shut until she felt herself hit solid ground.

She sat up and rubbed her head. “Did she just-”

Boscha was already on her feet. Her mouth fell agape as she stared around. “Oh, no. Nononono.”

For a moment Amity was unsure of what had gotten Boscha so worked up, until she realized where they were. They were standing at the bottom of a set of bleachers overlooking a very recognizable round field. A giant banner reading  _ 8th Grade Girls’ Grudgby Semifinals _ hung over a scoreboard on the far side, and the stands were packed with cheering friends and parents.

_ I guess it makes sense that this is the memory Willow is angriest about. _

“You understand all this weird magic. Can’t you get us out of here?” Boscha begged.

Amity shook her head. “Nope. You’ve got to get through the memory and make peace with Inner Willow before we can start fixing everything else.”

“But I don’t  _ want _ to see this memory!”

“Tough.” Amity would bet a lot of snails that Willow didn’t want to rewatch this memory either.

Her attention was drawn to the movement on the field. Eight players flitted around on the sand like butterflies, and after a moment Amity began to recognize them. There was Boscha- a little shorter and a little clumsier than she was now, making a dive for the ball, but a Glandes player snatched it away before she could reach it. There were Amelia and Cat, Boscha’s friends. And of course, in her familiar pink letterman jacket was a little bit younger-looking Captain Amity, albeit without her brown roots growing in. 

The Glandes player scored, and the lights on the scoreboard changed.  _ Banshees 5 Visitors 6. _

“We’ve got time for one more play,” announced a voice over the loudspeaker. “Will the Banshees catch up or will the Bats take it all?”

Though Amity knew how the game turned out in the end, she found herself holding her breath. 

Younger Amity grabbed the ball immediately and flung it in the younger Boscha’s direction. Past Boscha didn’t catch it, though- she was staring off into the stands with a blank expression and didn’t see it land at her feet. 

“Boscha!” the smaller version of Amity yelled. “The ball!”

Past Boscha jerked to her senses, but not before a Glandes kid grabbed the ball from where it lay and threw it into her own goal. The buzzer sounded and the game ended.

“And that’s a wrap, folks! Glandes Middle will be advancing to the finals!”

Past Boscha let out a screech of fury and stormed off the field. She walked right through Present Amity, though she obviously couldn’t see her. 

Past Amity wasn’t far behind her. “Hey, I’m sorry about that!” she called after her friend.

Past Boscha stopped in her tracks. “I can’t believe I missed that ball!” she snapped. “How idiotic could I be? I’m the star player, for Titan’s sake!”

“You were distracted for a moment,” Past Amity said, “It’s okay, everyone-”

“No it wasn’t. I cost us the finals. And it’s all Willow Park’s fault.”

Past Amity frowned in confusion. “Willow?”

“She was doing something stupid up in the stands. I wanted to yell to her, ‘hey half-a-witch! I can’t believe you’d dare to show your face around here!’” but I didn’t, and then that idiot from Glandes scored.”

“Okay, now I know you’re just lying,” Past Amity laughed mirthlessly. “You weren’t yelling anything to Willow. You were just staring at her. And you didn’t look angry. Actually, you looked a little  _ nervous. _ ”

Past Boscha shifted uncomfortably on her feet. “Shut up. I’m gonna go give her a piece of my mind. Then she’ll know better than to mess with my concentration.”

“Boscha, wait,” Past Amity called. Past Boscha’s eyes flashed with anger and she sprinted away, ducking behind the bleacher that Amity and Boscha in their current incarnations were currently standing in front of.

Only then did Amity realize that Inner Willow had been standing next to them as whole time the memory unfolded. The fiery anger had faded from her eyes, replaced by a dull sorrow, darkening as she watched the eighth-grade versions of her former friends run away. 

“Well?” Inner Willow asked. “Aren’t you going to follow them?”

Boscha backed away. “I already know what happened. I don’t need to go.”

“I think you’d better see it again.”

“Let’s go, Boscha,” Amity said.

Boscha avoided Amity’s eyes. “No.”

“You need to apologize to Willow. We can’t leave her until you make things right with her.”

“Good to know that you knowingly trapped me in here,” Boscha said bitterly.

Amity felt a flash of frustration. This girl was impossible. How hard could it possibly be to acknowledge that she had been horrible to Willow and promise to do better in the future?  _ I did it, so why can’t she? _ “Look, I needed someone else to come with me anyway, and Luz is still too weak to walk.”  _ Besides, it would be so incredibly awkward right now.  _ “Making you apologize is just a bonus.”

“You can’t  _ make  _ me do anything.”

“I’m running out of patience, Boscha,” Inner Willow warned.

“Fine,” Boscha growled. “If it gets me out of this hellscape sooner, I’m come watch Willow embarrass me with you.” 

Amity and Inner Willow exchanged a glance and led the way through the gap under the bleachers. Sounds of an argument drifted towards them, and when Amity’s eyes adjusted to the low light, she saw the past versions of herself, Boscha, and Willow facing off like a couple of stray cats having a spat over food. Willow looked like she wanted the floor to swallow her, but Boscha stood on the offensive, not backing down. Past Amity stood a few paces back, her expression cold as ice.

“What do you mean, I broke your concentration?” Past Willow cried. “I wasn’t even doing anything. I was just sitting there with my dads, watching the game, just like everybody else!”

“You just did,” Past Boscha said stubbornly. “I can’t explain it.”

“Can’t we fight about this another day?” Past Amity asked.

“Shut up, Amity!” Past Boscha snapped. “Willow and I have a score to settle, you know. You should probably just get out of here.”

Past Willow covered her face with her hands. “I didn’t even do anything! You’re just being mean for no reason!”

“I’m not mean. I’m just telling you like it is.”

“Ever since Amity ditched me for you, you’ve both been just awful!”

“Yeah.” Boscha advanced on Willow menacingly. “Because  _ you’re _ awful.”

Past Willow let out a wail and sunk to her knees. “Boscha, please! Tell me what I did wrong! I’ll leave you alone, I promise!”

Amity watched in horror as her past self stood off to the side, stone-faced.  _ How could I have ever acted like that? How can I ever make up for it? _ All her instincts screamed at her to intervene, but she knew she couldn’t, that this had already happened and there was nothing she could do to change it.  _ I’ve got enough on my plate with changing the past anyway. _

“You’ve always been weak,” Past Boscha said, her tone low. “You’re awful at magic. You don’t even have any friends. And it’s horrible, because you’re horrible and I hate you, I really do, but- but… somehow I still have a crush on you!” Her hands flew to her mouth as soon as she’d said the words. 

Present Boscha looked about ready to punch someone. 

“What?” Past Willow whispered.

“I like you, Willow,” Past Boscha muttered. “I always have. But I also hate you. I don’t know what any of it means.”

“I don’t believe you.” Willow’s voice shook. “You’re so mean. You  _ can’t _ have a crush on me. I- I-”

“I guess the demon’s out of the bag.” Past Boscha spun around and grabbed Past Amity by the wrist. “Let’s go. There’s nothing else I need to say.”

Willow wiped a few tears from her eyes and the memory faded to blackness.

A moment later, the three were once again standing in the grassy clearing lined with trees. Inner Willow turned to Boscha. “Well? Do you get it now?”

Boscha looked away. “I can’t help how I feel.”

“But you can help how you act,” Inner Willow said, then added, “idiot.”

“Do you still feel like that?” Amity asked. Boscha said nothing, which was answer enough.

“Do you have anything you’d like to say to me?” Inner Willow asked tetchily. “Maybe an, ‘oh, I’m so sorry, Willow, that was just an incredibly mean-spirited joke and I’m really sorry about how I’ve been treating you since we were in elementary school’?”

Boscha crossed her arms and slouched. “Okay, you got me. I’m sorry for being such a big mean bully and for having a crush on you since we were nine, and that we’re friends, will you go out with me?”

“I’d really like to kick you out of my head right now, but unfortunately, you and Amity are still in charge of damage control here,” Inner Willow said.

Boscha ganced at Amity. “Is that a yes?”

Amity grinned. “I wouldn’t count on it.”

“You’re literally the worst.”

~

Boscha and Amity worked for a good chunk of the afternoon to get Willow’s memories fixed again. It was nice to have a relatively pleasant trip down memory lane (save for Boscha’s constant complaining about Willow’s rejection) but Amity was more than relieved when they finished with the last memory- rebuilding the beach fort. Once again she mimicked Eda’s spell and soon enough both witches found themselves safely back in Willow’s room, standing next to Willow’s bed.

Willow seemed to process that something had changed. She blinked her eyes open and sat up, struggling only a bit to do so. She looked to Boscha first, then to Amity, then back to Boscha. 

“Hi, Willow,” Amity said awkwardly. “Are you… feeling okay?”

“I had hoped that that was just a bad dream,” Willow replied dryly, “but I can see that it clearly wasn’t.”

“You didn’t hear anything I said in there, right?” Boscha asked.

Willow shook her head. “I heard everything. And the answer is still no, Boscha. We are not even friends. I almost died  _ and _ lost my memories today. You don’t need to complicate everything even more for me.”

Boscha’s shoulders drooped. “Okay.”

Willow addressed Amity. “If you’re wondering what happened with my whole… that, today was practice day in photo class, so we were pulling out some relatively unimportant memories to prep for our big project tomorrow. The fire must have damaged them. I…” she trailed off for a moment. Amity could see the gears turning in her head, contemplating what to say.

“I really owe you one, Amity,” Willow said at last. “Thanks for coming back for me. I don’t know if I would have been able to get out on my own. Maybe… maybe we really can be friends. Thinking to search for me was really and truly noble of you.”

Amity blushed in embarrassment. “I was just doing what Luz would have done. But… thank you.”

“What about me?” Boscha demanded. “I saved you  _ both _ from the fire that Luz set and I don’t hear any thanks from either of you.”

Willow raised an eyebrow.

“Let’s just agree that it was unexpected,” Amity muttered.

“I don’t know whether to be proud or offended that you think I’m not above letting my classmates die.”

“I’m glad you’re okay, Willow.” Amity reached out to touch Willow’s shoulder. “I could never have left you behind.”

Willow’s eyes shone. “Thanks, Amity.”

As much as she would have loved to stay and chat, Amity’s brain was screaming Luz’s name on repeat, and it was getting louder any second to the point where she could no longer ignore it. “I have to go see Luz now,” she said. She glared at Boscha. “ _ Boscha _ will be going  _ home  _ and having her  _ party _ . I’ll be next door, so let me know if you need anything, okay?”

“I will.”

Amity shooed Boscha out of the room and leaned down to whisper in Willow’s ear. “Just between you and me, I wouldn’t want to date Boscha either.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the universe has had it out for me all day so make my day a little better and leave a comment? 🤠


	16. Chapter 16

When Amity returned to Luz’s room, Luz had disappeared. The bed had been remade and the whole place cleaned and shining as if Luz had never been there at all. So, after throwing on her normal clothes and hoping she wouldn’t be recognized as an actual patient, Amity asked the front desk receptionist where Luz had gone. “I’m not allowed to disclose that kind of information to strangers,” the receptionist said, “but you look like a harmless little kid, so what bad could it do. Luz wasn’t supposed to be discharged until tomorrow, but a tall lady with a lot of white hair came in a few minutes ago and demanded she go home, and we certainly weren’t about to mess with this woman, so we let Luz go with her.”

_ Oh, thank goodness. _ Amity had been terrified that Luz’s condition had somehow worsened and she’d been moved somewhere else- but no, Eda had finally fetched her, which meant she was curled up safe and sound at the Owl House. She thanked the receptionist and went on her way.

When she arrived in the woods just outside the Owl House, just as the sun was beginning to slide below the trees, she sent a quick text to Emira.  _ Spending the evening with Luz at Owl House. Not sure when I’ll be back. Make up an excuse for mom and dad if you can. _

Em replied immediately.  _ They think ur staying overnight @ hospital lol… asked if they wanted 2 visit u and said no. Not surprised but sry abt that _

_ It’s all good,  _ Amity texted back. It wasn’t anything she wasn’t used to.

As soon as Amity emerged into the clearing that surrounded the house- dry-humoredly taking a note of the crack that still spanned the ground from the moonlight adventure a few weeks ago- Hooty spotted her and stretched to meet her. “Hoot hoooot!” he greeted her. “You looked really good for someone who almost diiiied!”

“If I wasn’t so excited to see Luz I would punch you,” Amity said.

“You probably shouldn’t disturb Luz, hoot. She’s sleeping. She’s veeerrry tired.”

“Too bad. She promised we’d talk.” Amity barged past Hooty, but he followed her all the way back to the door.

“About whaaaaat?”

Amity opened the door. “It’s none of your business,” she said loudly, and slammed the door behind her before Hooty had a chance to fully retract.

”Owww! Hoot!”

The first person Amity spotted was Eda, who was in the corner of the kitchen, and appeared to be cooking… something. Whatever it was, it was burning, and the smell drew Amity sharply back to the terror-filled morning. “Hi, Eda,” Amity greeted the older witch, ignoring the fear that was bubbling up inside her again. “Is Luz… is anyone allowed to visit her?”

“Only you,” Eda replied, throwing Amity a wink. 

Amity blushed. “Is she in her room? Can I go see her?”

“Of course you can.” Eda drew her spoon out of the pot and pointed it at her. “She told me what happened at the hospital, though, so no funny business.”

“Actually, that’s what… that’s what I’m here to talk to her about,” Amity muttered. She guessed it wasn’t too surprising that Luz had told Eda about… that. Eda was basically Luz’s mom for the time being. Briefly she wondered what it would be like to have parents she felt safe communicating with… but she quickly dismissed the daydream and shuffled away, climbing the stairs as fast as her sore muscles would let her.

“Don’t make any extremely stupid decisions!” Eda yelled after her. “Minorly stupid ones are okay, though!”

She knocked on Luz’s door before she opened it. “Hey, Luz,” she called softly. “Can I come in? It’s just me.”

She heard shuffling footsteps inside the room and the door cracked open, revealing Luz’s bandaged face. “Hi,” she said hoarsely. She looked and sounded exhausted, but her brown eyes lit up when she saw Amity. “Thank goodness it’s you,” she murmured, and fell slightly forward, wrapping her arms around Amity’s midsection and burying her head in Amity’s shoulder. Amity returned the embrace. 

“How do you feel?” Amity asked when Luz stepped away. “Better, I hope?”

Luz shrugged and flexed each arm in turn. “I can move,” she reported.

“Does it hurt?”

“A little.”

“Then what are you doing still standing here? Go lay back down and relax!”

A slight smile appeared on Luz’s face. “Of course, Your Majesty Amity Blight.” With one last feather-light touch to Amity’s arm, she turned around and made her way back into her room. 

Amity followed her in and gazed around for a moment. She hadn’t been in here since the first Grom, and even now she could see the corner of the otter onesie peeking out of Luz’s chest. Luz’s sleeping setup seemed to be the same- a few pillows and blankets and a sleeping bag sprawled across the wooden floor, with a picture frame set up right next to where Luz would lay her head. Amity crouched down and saw that it was a photo of Luz and an older woman who she presumed to be Luz’s mother. An unexpected pang of sadness sliced her heart. She hadn’t really thought about that whole Luz-going-home thing lately. 

“Welcome to my humble abode,” Luz chirped. She sat down cross legged on her sleeping bag and tapped the space next to her, and Amity obliged the silent request. She didn’t say anything once they were both seated, and neither did Luz, so a strange silence stretched between them. There was very clearly a demon in the room that neither girl was willing to address.

After a minute, Luz cleared her throat. “So,” she began awkwardly, and Amity instantly knew what the human was about to bring up. “About… what happened in the hospital.”

Amity flushed red from the tips of her pointed ears down to her neck. “Yeah…”

“I’m sorry,” Luz said.

“What?” That had been the last reaction she’d expected from Luz. A  _ you’re actually a terrible kisser, so never mind,  _ or  _ Amity Blight, I am totally and irrevocably in love with you _ would have made more sense. But she hadn’t expected an  _ apology. _

“That was dumb of me,” Luz confessed. “To just, uh… kissyoulikethat. Sorry.”

“Luz, I… I liked that.” 

Now it was Luz’s turn to blush. “You did?”

“Why do you think I kissed you back?”

“Oh.” Luz seemed to ponder this for a moment. “I’m not sure.”

Now Amity’s nervousness was beginning to catch up to her again. “Unless you didn’t like it. I won’t ever do it again if you didn’t. Not that I was thinking about ever doing it again anyway. Not even the realm of possibility. Unless you want it to be. Or if you think that’s creepy-”

“Amity, stop.” It might have been Amity’s imagination, but she thought Luz scooted just a hair closer to her. 

She shut her mouth.

“I like you,” Luz insisted. “Like, I have a crush on you. Wow, that is terrifying to say out loud. For the longest time I couldn’t even think it!”

Amity’s mouth fell open.

“I’ve been pondering my feelings for a while,” continued Luz, “and I think I’ve finally figured them out. I really like you, Amity. Like, a lot. And I wasn’t sure if I should at first… maybe a lot of my denial was because of the fact that logically, I could never truly be with you. We’ll always be a whole world apart. And when I go home… I wouldn’t want to lose you.”

_ Oh. _ Amity looked away.  _ I hadn’t thought of that. _ “I was scared you wouldn’t even like girls, and you’d think I was weird…”

_ “ _ I’m bisexual,” Luz confirmed. “I like everyone. Anyway, I think I made up my mind about what’s important.” Leaning into her, Luz took Amity’s hand and lightly traced the back of it with her thumb.

“Me?” Amity whispered. She hated that she sounded like a desperate little kid, but she wasn’t sure what else to say.

Luz nodded. “You.”

“You mean…”

“If I’m not reading things wrong, and you actually said you liked kissing me and I’m not just super stuck-up or something, Amity…” Luz gave Amity’s hand a squeeze. “I kind of want you to maybe… I mean I was wondering if… we could be…” She swallowed. “Girlfriends?”

_ Girlfriends. _ Immediately, Amity’s chest exploded, launching invisible fireworks and making her whole body tingle. “Girlfriends!” she yelped. “Yes!”

Luz giggled.

“I… I mean…” Amity quickly brought herself down from her high. She squeezed Luz’s hand back as cordially and gently as Luz had done. “I would like that. A lot.”

“Girlfriends,” Luz murmured. She sunk her head onto Amity’s shoulder and nuzzled into the crook of her neck. Amity stretched an arm around to rest on the small of Luz’s back.

For a moment, she was scared her heart would burst with happiness.

“I can’t believe that just this morning we were trying to escape Hexside with our lives,” Luz said.

“This is infinitely better.”

“I just wish I hadn’t failed my exam. We could go to school together.”

“We will. The school will be repaired by Monday, just watch. I’ll get you in yet.”

Luz groaned. “I was hoping you’d have a day off so you could stay with me.” She pouted, which was both hilarious and endearing and gave Amity a million butterflies.

“Today’s Friday. We have the whole weekend,” Amity reminded her. “And the weekend after that is Grom. Maybe…”

“Grom,” Luz echoed. “You’ve mentioned it. What exactly is it again? I caught something about a dance, certain death, battles...”

“Hang on. Let me readjust a little bit.” As nice as it felt to have her arm around Luz, Amity wished they could somehow be closer. After all, they were girlfriends now (though this all did still feel like some crazy fever dream) so as long as they were both okay with it, they could cuddle without feeling weird. Amity sat up against Luz’s wall, just under the window, using a pillow to support her back. She motioned for Luz to make herself comfortable, and Luz set herself in front of Amity so that Amity could rest her chin on the top of Luz’s head and wrap her arms around her new girlfriend’s middle, pulling her closer. She shut her eyes and let out a breath of contentment. “This is okay, right?” she asked.

Luz nodded. “Now tell me about Grom!”

“Okay. Well, it is a dance, but… see, there’s kind of a monster that lives underneath Hexside that can turn into your worst nightmare.”  _ Plus, we kind of have a history, which is weird. _ “It becomes powerful enough to escape once a year, so Bump holds a dance, picks one lucky student warrior, and sends them under the school to fight it. They’re the Grom Royalty. This year is the first year I’ll be allowed to attend, since it’s only for ninth grade and up… and it’s the first year I could technically be picked as Grom Queen.”

“If I fought that thing, it would turn into a carton of milk and I’d drink it to death,” Luz bragged.

Amity didn’t have the heart to tell the human what her real fear was, and how hard it would be to fight it. “I’m sure you would.”

“Wait, but there  _ is _ a dance? Does that mean we can go together? Since we’re, you know…” Her voice dropped to a timid quietness. “Together?”

“We can, if you want.” Amity blinked. Had it really been that easy? Would Luz have gone to Grom with her the whole time if she’d just  _ asked? _

“I do want! I want to be your date!”

Amity giggled softly. “Then it’s settled. We’ll be Grom Queens together.”

Luz shivered. “Ugh, I hope not! That sounds horrible!”

“Not literally,” Amity lied. She was consciously aware that that was one aspect of the past she probably couldn’t change. Not that she’d make Luz fight this time. She knew she needed to face her demons on her own. 

_ But what will my fear be? Now that Luz and I are together… it can’t be rejection. Will Grom show me Luz going home? But how would that even work? Would Grom just… disappear? _

“And we can dance…” Luz murmured. “Like at the festival. It’ll be so much fun.”

Amity reached down to tuck a stray lock of hair behind Luz’s ear. “I’m surprised you still remember the festival.”  _ So many things have happened since then. _

“Of course I do. That was when I realized… that night when I got home, I talked to Eda a little bit, and I thought… well, maybe I liked you maybe a tiny bit more than a friend.”

“I’m glad you did realize. Otherwise I’d be stuck… what was that word you always use in your fanfictions?” Amity racked her brain. “Oh! Yearning?”

“Yeah, that,” Luz laughed. “Well just between you and me, I think I might have been doing a little bit of that too.”

They fell into a comfortable silence. After a moment, Luz wriggled a bit, snuggled into Amity’s chest, and shut her eyes. An instinctive low rumble rose in Amity’s throat at the sight of the tired, adorable girl in her arms.

Luz cracked her eyes open and peered up at her. “Amity- are you  _ purring?” _

“What? No!” Amity cried indignantly. “I don’t-” she tried to protest, but the rumbling grew louder, and she couldn’t suppress it.

“That is literally the cutest thing I have ever witnessed in my entire life,” Luz whispered, her eyes big. “Witches  _ purr. _ Oh my goodness. You’re like a kitty!”

“I am  _ not  _ a kitty!”

“You’re a cute fuzzy kitty!” Luz cooed. 

Despite herself, Amity continued purring. “Shut up!”

“No,” Luz said sweetly. “You signed up for this.”

Amity sighed. “I suppose I did.”  _ But I wouldn’t change anything about it. _

Luz smirked, and Amity’s heart melted.

“Can I kiss you?” she blurted. She wasn’t sure what had come over her, just that she knew that Luz was very, very close right now, and they were girlfriends, and kissing is a thing people who are girlfriends do, and as much as she loved their adorable banter she really really wanted to remember what her girlfriend’s lips felt like on hers.

Luz didn’t look away, and Amity noticed that she was blushing. “I- of course!” She seemed a little shocked, but she didn’t shy away from their proximity.

“Um.”  _ What do I do now?  _ Amity honestly hadn’t thought she’d get this far. “Hey, do you wanna… wanna watch Azura afterwards?” She silently cursed at herself.  _ By all the stars, Blight, why do you have to be so AWKWARD?  _ “Maybe the fourth one?” she added.

“Fourth one sounds… good,” Luz said.

“Okay.” Amity didn’t say anything for a moment. She wasn’t unsure what to do- here Luz was, staring at her with those irresistible chocolate eyes, and Amity was frozen. “Sorry, I’m not very good at this-”

“Shh. I understand.” 

Luz cupped Amity’s cheek with one hand and slowly, softly kissed her. Amity felt herself melt into Luz’s touch, and she hugged Luz closer. 

_ Please let this never end. Please let us be like this forever. _

When the two girls separated, Amity rested her forehead on Luz’s and shut her eyes. “I think we’re gonna be okay,” she murmured. She wasn’t sure what she was referring to- their temporary injuries sustained from the fire, or everything that hung in the balance of time, or all the danger that she knew they’d soon be facing together, but whatever it was, Amity knew that she was right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i want someone to hold me like amity holds luz :(


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not naming any names but when authors of very well known fics comment on my stories i lose my shit a little

Just as Amity had predicted, the Construction Coven was on the Hexside scene by that evening, and the school looked as good as new by Monday morning. For the better part of the week after the fire, a strange tension filled the hallways of Hexside as whispers were passed around the student body and the mental images of dark licking flames sat at the forefront of every student’s mind. 

Grom was that Saturday, but for a few days, the excitement surrounding it was passed up in favor of rumors about the fire. The two most popular that Amity heard included one that Boscha had started the fire with a rogue Grudgby shot (Boscha absolutely basked in these rumors, Amity noted) and one that twenty-three kids in total had died. She felt bad for thinking the way she did, but she was a bit relieved that Luz wasn’t the center of the rumors. (Though if she were, they wouldn’t be rumors, they’d be true.)

Only once Friday rolled around did Grom decorations start appearing in the hallways and the student population turned their attention to the truly important matter at hand. By the time Amity made it up to Hexside’s front door on Friday morning, she’d already seen five elaborate Gromposals, three of which had ended in joyful tears from both parties. She was slightly regretful that she wouldn’t be able to do the same for Luz, but the fact that she was going with Luz at all was all that mattered.

That was, if her plan for the morning actually succeeded.

She’d been putting it off all week out of nerves, but today was her last shot. As far as she knew Grom dates from outside Hexside were not permitted, so she needed to get Luz in as quickly as possible or risk going to Grom alone and having her dreams crushed. So, here she stood, heart pounding wildly as she reached a fist up to shakily knock on Bump’s office door.

Centuries seemed to pass before there was an answer from within.

“Come in.”

Amity pushed the door open. Bump was seated at his desk, papers and file folders scattered all around. He pointed to a chair across from him. “Sit.” 

Amity did as she was told. “I-”

“If you’re here to tell me to cancel Grom just like the other twenty students that have stopped by for a visit this week, save it,” Bump interrupted.

Amity hesitated. “I… wasn’t here to talk about that, but okay. There are two students I’d like to talk to you about- well, one, I guess. The other hasn’t been enrolled yet.”

“Go on.”

“My friend Willow Park,” Amity began, feeling a bit odd finally referring to Willow as a friend, “is in the Abominations track with me right now but she really ought to be moved to Plants. She’s an incredible plant witch, and she deserves to study what she loves and is good at.”

Bump nodded. “That can be arranged, provided she comes in to request the switch personally. I have heard she’s quite good with plants for someone who isn’t actually studying them. And the other?”

Amity took a deep breath. She felt like asking about Luz was a huge risk- Luz had lit the entirety of Hexside  _ on fire,  _ and honestly, she wasn’t sure if she would want a student who had done that running around a school she hypothetically was in charge of. Still, she had to try. Luz’s biggest dream was to study magic. Amity had to play her part in helping her girlfriend.  _ And we have to be Grom dates.  _ “Luz, the human who-”

“I was scared you’d say that,” Bump sighed.

Amity clamped her jaw shut.  _ Maybe if you’d let me finish… _

“I’m guessing you’re going to ask for her admittance into Hexside despite the tragedy she caused. I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m  _ sure  _ she told you, seeing as you two are very close friends… she cast a fire spell and it went awry, first catching the curtains and then spreading to the rest of the school faster than we could magically contain it. It’s a wonder there were no casualties. According to reports from the Bonesborough Hospital, you were in the second-worst shape next to her- though can’t say she didn’t deserve that.”

Amity bit back a cry of horror. That was an awful thing to think!

“She’s very talented magically,” is what she said instead. “And she showed you two spells, didn’t she? Technically those are the only requirements!”

“I’m sure an exception can be made for a human who endangered thousands of people.”

“She’s a really good witch,” Amity went on helplessly. “She’s been trying so hard to learn magic even though she isn’t biologically wired for it.”

“You’re one of the top students in the freshman class, Amity,” Bump growled. “I would expect more out of you than the undeserved sympathy you’re giving the human.”

“But-”

“No buts. Luz will never be a student here. Now please go to your first period class. I’m getting ready to pick the Grom Royalty anyway, which is a process you can’t be here for.” Bump waved his hand at a large bowl on his desk that held hundreds of glowing slips of paper. One of those slips bore Amity’s name, and that was the one Bump would draw as soon as she left the room. 

Amity stood up and pushed her chair in. She stared down at the floor for a moment. She was unwilling to accept defeat. She didn’t want to imagine the distraught, defeated look on Luz’s face when she found out that it had been officially decreed that she’d never be a Hexside Banshee. 

If it weren’t for her meddling, Luz would already  _ be  _ a Banshee, studying happily with Willow and Gus, and making her mentor Eda proud with her quickly improving skills.

_ I’ve caused more problems than I’ve fixed, haven’t I? _

Amity needed at least one small victory to bring back to Luz. “I just want to ask a favor,” she said. “I want Luz to be my Grom date.”

Bump shook his head. “No outside Grom dates. It’s been a rule since I was a student here.”

“But I already asked Luz, and she said yes. Please, just let us go to Grom together.”

“No outside dates, and  _ especially _ not that troublemaking human!”

“Please!” Amity begged. She hated herself for pleading, but she knew she had to. She  _ hated  _ sounding desperate. She  _ hated  _ sounding like she was whining. And she  _ especially  _ hated asking for things from others. She was a Blight, the top of the top. Other witches were supposed to be asking  _ her  _ for things. But this was Luz, and Luz was special, and Luz was worth a slight social slip-up. More than that, actually. Luz was worth the whole world, and status was only a small part of Amity’s. 

And yet, Bump’s cold expression was set in stone. “No.”

Tears sprang to the back of Amity’s eyes. Without another word, she stormed out of the office. She wasn’t sure where her feet were carrying her after that, but she knew it wasn’t toward first period.

Since class hadn’t yet started, the common area near the lockers was still packed with students. Amity spotted the forest-green hair of her sister leaning casually against a locker, speaking with a witch wearing a telltale fishhook earring. She normally would have paused to ponder about how grateful she was that Viney had taken her advice and befriended Emira, but today she was far too bitter to think about it.

Just before she reached her sister, the loudspeakers turned on, and the hubbub of the atrium was brought down to a silence almost immediately.

Amity stopped and waited with bated breath.

“Attention, Hexside students. This is your principal speaking.”

Whispers spread through the gathered witches.

“This is it!”

“Who’ll it be?”

“Please not me. Please not me.”

“Please me! I wanna show everyone what a great warrior I am! Not really, though. Being Grom King sounds kinda terrifying.”

“This year, I have the privilege to bestow our highest Grom honor to…” the speaker said. Amity thought she might faint.  _ Please let me do something right for once. Please let me have somehow altered this decision. I can’t go up against Grom. Not again. _

“Amity Blight, our Grom Queen!”

Amity stood in stunned silence. So she  _ hadn’t  _ changed things.  _ I should have just… given the bowl of names a shake while I was in Bump’s office. That would have changed things, right? And it would have been so easy. _

Now the whispers were changing.

“Amity.”

“It’s Amity.”

“She’s right over there.”

“A freshman? We haven’t had one of those the whole time I’ve been here!”

“Yeah, she’ll never make it against Grom.”

Amity deflated, and she rushed to Emira, who was standing just a few feet away. As soon as Em saw her, she opened her arms wide for her little sister, and Amity crashed into them. 

“I don’t wanna fight Grom,” Amity sniffed, not caring who heard her. “I can’t do it again.”

Em didn’t question the  _ again. _ “I’m sorry. That’s rotten luck. Can you ask Bump to switch with someone else?”

“No.”

Em’s embrace tightened. She rested her chin on Amity’s head. “Would you like to skip school today?”

Amity hesitated, unsure what to say. She’d never skipped a day in her life. Being a straight-A student came with a simple price, and that price was that she could never join her siblings on their escapades. But now, the idea was so, so tempting.

“I want to see Luz,” Amity said quietly.

Em nodded. “Then we’ll go see Luz.” She drew a circle in the air and an identical copy of Amity appeared next to her. This version of Amity was the spitting image of the real thing, albeit with the trademark faint blue border of an Illusion. The Illusion waved and smiled. Clearly it didn’t have the real Amity’s demeanor.

“Thanks,” Amity sniffed.

Em gave Viney an awkward goodbye wave and dragged her little sister away from the gathering crowd. Just like every year, the Grom Royalty’s reaction to being given their title made for a perfect video to post on Penstagram, and students were already gathering around with their scrolls in hand. Pushing through all of them was a chore.

Em walked Amity all the way to the Owl House, though the walk took them several minutes. (“If Ed were here, he’d insist on illegally obtaining a staff to fly, but he had a history presentation today he couldn’t really get out of,” Em explained.) She hung back when they arrived, intending to let Amity speak to Luz in private. It was a little strange for Amity to see her older sister acting so kind and considerate, but maybe it wasn’t so weird considering Amity had basically just received what she was sure was a death sentence.

Luz answered her knocks immediately, just before Hooty could open his beak, as if she had been sitting around and waiting for Amity all day. (That was a very far-fetched thought, though, right?)

“Amity!” Luz didn’t wait for Amity to explain her visit. She grabbed Amity by the hand and dragged her inside as if a Slitherbeast were after them. “I’m so glad to see you! Wait, you’re supposed to be in school, aren’t you? Did the twins bring you? If they did, it was sweet of them to come all the way here. Oh, of course- did you talk to Bump about getting me back in?”

Amity tried to keep her expression neutral. “Yeah, I did.”

Luz’s face fell. Perhaps Amity hadn’t been as impassive as she hoped. “Oh, no,” Luz whispered. “He said no, didn’t he?”

Amity nodded solemnly.

Luz’s eyes shone with the beginning of tears, but she blinked them away. “It’s alright. You tried your best.”

“It’s  _ not  _ alright!” Amity was shocked at Luz’s complacency. “Studying at Hexside was your dream. It’s not right of Bump to just- shatter your  _ dream _ like that. We have to get you in.”

“Oh, don’t worry. We will.”

“I can’t believe he- huh?”

“Tomorrow night.” The devastation had drained from Luz’s face and was replaced by a grim determination. “At Grom. I’ll prove myself.”

“That’s the thing!” Amity groaned. “We’re not allowed to go to Grom together, either.”

She expected Luz to be anguised at this as well, but the human was anything but. “So?” she asked, a playful grin crossing her features. “Why do you think that’d stop me?”

“If they see you, they’ll kick you out.”

“Kick, schmick.” Luz waved her hand dismissively. “Who cares as long as we get to dance?”

Right. The  _ other _ bad news Amity had to break to Luz. The third punch to the bile sac in a series of brutal punches. “We may not have time for that. I…” Suddenly her throat felt clogged, like she couldn’t get the words out. “I’ve been chosen for Grom Queen. So I… I have to be the one to fight Grom.”

Luz’s gaze softened. “Oh no.” She held out her arms, but hesitated. “Hug?”

Amity nodded. Luz’s gentle embrace was fifty times as magical as Em’s had been. Luz’s fingers found their way into Amity’s bob and she gently combed through it for a moment. Only when Amity felt totally steady again did she pull away.

“Come sit down with me,” Luz invited. 

Amity followed Luz to the couch. “Where’s Eda?” The house was strangely quiet, lacking the usual yelling or clattering or indignant squealing from King.

“Errands.” When they were both sitting Luz laid her head down on Amity’s shoulder. “She trusts me to stay here alone now. Isn’t that cool?”

“Yeah.”

“So do you know how you’re going to fight your fear?” 

_ Wow, she gets right to the point. _ Amity didn’t answer right away. Truth be told… she didn’t even know what her fear was going to be.

“I’m sorry,” Luz apologized quickly. “I get it if you don’t want to talk about it right now. It’s scary stuff.”

Amity sighed. “No, it’s fine. Might as well talk about it. It’s inevitable. I need to fight my own battles, you know?”

Luz  _ mhmed _ empathetically.

“I'm gonna be totally honest with you. I don’t actually know what my greatest fear is. There are so many things I’m scared of, Grom will have trouble picking just one.”

“I hope it doesn’t pick  _ all  _ of them.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“How about spiders? Are you scared of spiders?”

“No.” Amity allowed herself to laugh. “Not more than the average witch, anyway. My fears go a little deeper than spiders.”

“Hm. What about milk?”

“Milk?”

“I’m lactose intolerant.”

“Ice scream is my favorite food.”

Luz scrunched her nose up in a way that would have been totally adorable if Amity hadn’t been scared out of her mind trying to dissect her brain and figure out what her greatest fear was. “Remind me to never date you.”

Amity elbowed her girlfriend. “It’s a little too late for that.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t worry about it right now,” Luz suggested. “We’ve got a whole day. Grom isn’t until tomorrow. Let’s talk about something less… morbid. Do you know what you’re going to wear?”

“Um.”  _ That’s been the last thing on my mind. _ “I’ve got a pretty nice green suit I haven’t worn in a while. Maybe I’ll wear that.”  _ I’ll mix it up a little. More people will be looking at me this time, anyway, so I have to be confident.  _ “What about you?”

“Otter onesie!” Luz cheered. Amity raised an eyebrow. “Just kidding. I’m actually not sure what I’ll wear. I don’t think I can be as stunning as you in a suit no matter how hard I try.”

Amity stared at Luz for a moment. Her? Amity? Stunning?  _ Luz  _ thinking she was stunning?  _ Luz thinks I’ll be STUNNING? STUNNING???? Has that girl EVER looked in a mirror?  _ “No-no way,” she stammered. “You’ll be- you’ll be gorgeous. You’re Luz.”

“See?” Luz grinned, lopsided, and threw one arm around Amity’s shoulder. “There’s more to Grom than fear and horror and death and fear and blah blah blah. We’ve got time to figure everything out still. The dance isn’t until tomorrow!”

_ Yeah,  _ Amity thought. She intertwined her fingers with Luz’s.  _ Not until tomorrow. _

~

_ Grom is definitely today. _

Amity stood at the entrance to the underground arena, gripping the hilt of her sword so tightly she thought it’d slip from her hands and clatter to the ground. The darkness of the arena yawned back at her, and the stares of hundreds of classmates burned her skin from all directions. Somewhere in those bleachers sat Luz. She wondered if Luz was half as nervous as she was. 

_ One day of training wasn’t enough. I still have no idea what I’m going to see down there. _

The amorphous form of Grom writhed in the dirt floor below, and Amity’s stomach squirmed right along with it.

She took a brave step forward. 

_ But whatever it is, it’s going to be horrible. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: amity will have the same greatest fear as i do


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> traffic is definitely not better in the afternoon so i’m going back to night posting

Amity had taken Luz’s reassurances to heart. Too close to heart, in fact. She’d let herself be lulled into a rather foreign sense of calm by her girlfriend’s quiet optimism far into Saturday afternoon, and when she’d finally gotten around to training with Luz, she was far more confident than she realized she should have been.

They’d gone over every fear that Amity was willing to admit to. The darkness, the sea, being caught in a boiling rainstorm. Failing a class. Being sent to the Conformatorium. All these shallow, generic fears that probably plagued a good percentage of the Isles’ population. But she didn’t want to tell Luz what she was really scared of, so she didn’t.

Maybe she should have, because the debilitating sense of unpreparedness that clung to her now was very nearly overwhelming.

Cheering rose up around Amity as she descended into the darkness. The noise made her ears ring, but she forced herself to keep her concentration. Grom could sneak up on her from any direction and she had to be ready.

_ Luz, I hope you’re up there. _

The small wormlike shadows swimming in the dirt began to converge into one gigantic pitch-black shape as soon as Amity set one foot within the arena. It rose up, twice as tall as her, and though it didn’t have eyes, she knew that it was scrutinizing her and picking her apart from the inside out, looking deep into her brain for any miniscule detail that would truly break her if presented to her head-on. She tried to concentrate her thoughts on anything but her growing terror-  _ Think of Luz think of Luz think of Luz-  _ but her mind was always forced back to Grom as if Grom were controlling her mind itself.

Grom split and took on two humanoid forms, both about a head taller than Amity was. Their identities were unclear for a moment until Amity spotted the telltale bun-shape on the back of one’s head and the outline of what appeared to be a beard on the other.

“No,” Amity whispered. She wanted to run, wanted so badly to escape, but she was rooted to the spot. She gripped the sword so tightly in her fist that her knuckles turned white. She didn’t want to fight. But she had to.

Glowing eyes appeared on her parents’ faces, and they faded into color. Both Odalia and Alador wore stern but almost neutral expressions as they gazed disdainfully at their daughter. They didn’t look particularly upset, though. Amity knew that they looked at almost everyone that way, sometimes even each other. That was what made them so terrifying- the fact that their faces never gave anything away.

“Miss Amity,” Alador addressed her, his low voice a growl in his throat. “Did you enjoy your time at Grom?

“You’re not real,” Amity choked out. She brandished her blade and held it at arms length, silently daring the illusions of her parents to come closer. 

“Is that a sword?” Odalia murmured. “My dear, put that away. Would you really consider hurting your own parents?”

“You’re  _ not _ my parents!”

“I’m glad you had a pleasant time at the dance,” Alador continued as if he couldn’t see the sword at all. “Who did you spend time with?”

“Nobody! Just leave me alone! You’re not real!”

Odalia’s gaze hardened. “Did you say Luz?”

“What? No!”

“That name sounds familiar,” pondered Alador.

“Isn’t she the human?” the Blight parents said in unison. Chills raced down Amity’s spine.

“Luz has nothing to do with this.”

“Our daughter, going to Grom with a human?” her parents went on. “That’s scandalous behavior. Are you even really a part of the Blight family?”

The only thing worse than enduring ridicule from her parents was knowing that Luz was sitting helplessly up the bleachers, listening to her parents say these things about her. Would she think that Amity didn’t really like her? 

She gazed up at the crowd, though the bottom part of the bleachers was obscured from where she was standing. The faces all blended together. She couldn’t tell where one witch stopped and the next began.

But she  _ knew  _ Luz was out there, watching, waiting for her to fight back.

_ I’ll be your fearless champion this time, Luz. _

Before the illusions of her parents could say another worthless word, Amity raised her sword and charged toward them, letting out a cry of fury. 

“Stay out of this!” she roared, slashing the blade in a neat arc and cutting through both figures. They focused their eerie, lifeless stares on their daughter once more before evaporating.

“Is that all you’ve got?” Amity snarled. She turned in a circle, watching the remnant of Grom amalgamate into something new. Adrenaline pumped through her veins. The defeat of her parents had made her feel more alive than she had in a while. Maybe she  _ could  _ handle this. 

The next person Grom took the shape of was Principal Bump.

A flash of triumph flashed through Amity’s chest. “Too easy.Is that all you’ve got?” Sshe crowed. “A Snaggleback is more intimidating.”

Bump didn’t reply immediately, only watched Amity with a level expression. 

“So? What are you gonna scare me with, huh? Extra homework?”

Bump’s tone was just as artificial and bone-chilling as her parents’ had been. “I’m sure you know why I’ve called you to my office today.”

“I sure don’t,” Amity replied.

“We need to talk about your grades.” 

Instantly Amity’s heart dropped.  _ It’s not real,  _ she reminded herself.  _ No matter what he says to you, you’re still one of the smartest and most capable witches in the school. _

“You are failing all your classes. I’m afraid we’ll have to be looking into expulsion-”

Before Bump even finished, Amity’s sword stuck itself straight through where his heart would have been. Amity cringed as she did so- slaughtering look-alikes of real people made her uneasy, even if they were her manipulative parents or annoying principal- but now her second fear had been defeated, and she felt as strong as ever.

Whatever the next fear would be, it’d probably be terrifying, and she’d need a vicious and cunning attack to conquer it.

But Grom’s third form wasn’t intimidating or scary at all. This new form matched her height nearly exactly. Amity expected Grom to take the shape of a horrible beast, or perhaps someone who held some sort of grudge against her- maybe her former mentor Lilith, or even Emperor Belos himself. But what she didn’t expect was tufty brown hair, a cropped white-and-purple hoodie, and sorrowful brown eyes that stared at her like they could see the deepest depths of Amity’s soul.

Amity suddenly felt dizzy.

“Hi, Amity,” Luz greeted her. Amity stared back at her. 

Since whenWhy did Luz sound so…  _ sad _ ? 

“Luz,” she whispered. “I don’t understand. I’m not scared of you anymore. We’re together now. You can’t reject me.”

The sorrow in Luz’s gaze intensified. “I wish that were true.”

“Luz, what do you mean?” 

She didn’t answer verbally. Instead, she reached into the back pocket of her shorts and pulled out a bronze-plated key that gleamed in the darkness. 

For a moment, Amity thought that Luz had somehow gotten ahold of the key to the time spell cabinet, but when Luz lightly touched the center of it, she realized that it wasn’t a library key at all.

A circle of fire appeared in front of Luz and a slim brown case emblazoned with a yellow eye floated up into her hands. She opened the case and blinding white light flashed into Amity’s eyes, blinding her for a brief moment. When she regained her sight, Luz was standing in front of what appeared to be a portal. Green spruces and a winding forest path were visible on the other side. Amity recognized this portal. She hadn’t seen it in- in months, technically speaking. But she recognized it all the same.

“I don’t want to have to do this,” Luz sighed. “But I want you to know I tried my best. I don’t have feelings for you, Amity. I never really did.” She turned away, obscuring her eyes and illuminating her figure hauntingly against the light of the door. “When I told you I liked you, I didn’t really mean it. That kiss in the hospital didn’t mean anything either. I pitied your sadness, nothing more.”

Amity wondered why the ground suddenly seemed so close. Then she realized her knees must have buckled, and she’d fallen, and tears were streaming down her face. She looked up pleadingly at Luz, and could have sworn she saw a flash of triumph in her girlfriend’s eyes. Another sob escaped her throat.

“You’re not real!” she cried. Truthfully, she was trying to convince herself just as much as she was Grom. “Luz likes me. She said so.”

“No I don’t,” Luz said, puzzled. “Again, I’m really sorry for the confusion. But I just don’t think I should stick around. I need to go back home so I don’t make this too awkward for us.”

“Oh, Luz,” Amity whispered. “I’m sorry I was too weak to win.”

As she placed her face in her hands, a low rumble of whispers and confused mutters began to spread through the crowd, and Amity looked back up in surprise. There hadn’t been any announcements thus far during her fight. Had somebody finally stepped up to the stage?

Then she saw the movement at the top of the ramp that led into the arena. Someone was silhouetted in the gym’s low light. Their features weren’t distinct, but judging from the frilly skirt and the flail they held, it could really only be one person. 

Luz had come to save Amity again.

Amity sat in shock on the floor, unable to move, and barely being able to process the fact that there were now two Luz’ses here and one of them seemed a lot more real than the other.

“Get away from her!” the real Luz yelled and sprinted down the ramp, mouth curled into a snarl, glaring daggers at Grom. She leapt at the shadow monster, swinging her flail, but Grom ducked away and slithered to the other side of the arena, throwing Amity a smirk as it did so. Luz turned to glance frantically at Amity. “I’m sorry. I know you said you wanted to fight your own battles-”

“It’s okay,” Amity promised her. She turned her attention to Grom. “Your plan won’t work.” Filled with newfound courage, Amity staggered to her feet and brushed the dirt unceremoniously off her green suit-pants. She was shaking, and she felt too weak to keep the sword aloft, but as long as she remembered that this was not the real Luz, and that the real Luz was standing just a few feet away ready to fight for her, she knew she’d win out in the end. She brushed one more tear out of her eye. “I’m certain of Luz’s feelings for me. So stop trying.”

Luz blinked bewilderedly at Amity. “What do you mean-”

“My plan!” Grom cackled. “Oh, Amity. I do know what you’re doing. I was there when you took up my offer. You’re not the only one who can tamper with-”

“What is it talking about? What  _ offer? _ ” shouted Luz.

Grom stuck its chin in the air. “I’ll win yet, just you wait. After all- who do you think set the fire?”

The gym fell so silent you could have heard an Illusion’s footsteps.

“Luz,” Amity said quietly. “Luz set the fire. On  _ accident.” _

“Luz set  _ a  _ fire,” Grom corrected. “Do you really think that one little fire spell could have possibly done all that damage and spread that quickly? The fire on the curtain was put out almost immediately. I saw a chance then- and I took it. Your fear is making me strong, Amity. I’m more omnipotent than you realize.”

Luz was glancing wildly back and forth between Amity and Grom. “Am I missing something? Are you saying the fire wasn’t my fault?”

“Apparently it wasn’t,” Amity muttered.  _ I guess it wasn’t mine, either. _ “Wait.” Something clicked in her mind, and she pointed an accusatory finger at Grom. “You did that on purpose! You knew I helped Luz find the fire glyph, and you wanted to make it seem like the fire was my fault so that you could feed off my guilt and my fear that Luz would be angry at me!”

“You thought I would be angry at you?” said Luz.

Grom smiled. “My, my, my, Miss Blight. No wonder you are the top student of Hexside’s freshman class.”

Seeing such a malicious grin on Luz’s face, and hearing Grom’s words spoken in Luz’s voice- even though the real Luz was standing right next to her- made Amity’s stomach churn. “You’re a monster.”

“It’s in my name.” Grom shrugged. “They don’t call me the Fear Bringer just for fun.”

Luz let out a caterwaul of fury. “I’m going to  _ destroy  _ you!” she seethed, launching herself again at Grom, who dodged away just as easily as it had before.

“Luz, stop!”

Freezing, Luz swiveled her head back to Amity. “Uh, I’m kinda saving you right now. Give me a minute.”

“Do you have any glyphs on you?”

Luz snorted. “Never leave the house without ‘em.”

Amity held out her hand. “Come dance with me.” She hoped that Luz would see the urgency in her eyes. “Please.”

A grim understanding settled over Luz’s features. 

The arena was very small and cramped compared to the wide, open cliff they’d fought Grom on before. Despite that, from the moment Amity joined hands with Luz, all their twirls and maneuvers seemed instinctual. This time, though, the moves were more intimate, the touches more personal, the looks they exchanged so much deeper.  _ I’m doing this for you,  _ Amity said silently.  _ I’m doing this because I think that someday I’ll love you, and I can’t wait until I do _ . She saw more than a few astonished faces in the crowd when they rose above the arena for a moment on her abomination. 

“Ready?” she whispered to Luz.

“Only for you, girlfriend.”

Amity commanded the abomination to leap forward, and as she did, Luz sprang to the ground and swept a plant glyph across its forehead. Grom-as-Luz barely had any time to process the imminent danger before the abomination swallowed it whole and it disappeared. As if they’d rehearsed it, Luz caught Amity as she hit the ground and spun her while everything around them erupted into light. 

The next thing they knew, matching Grom tiaras appeared on their heads, and they were gazing up at the huge cherry blossom tree that, in another time, would have stood on the cliff behind the school. Now there was a very inconveniently-placed hole in the ceiling.

They clambered back up the ramp and were instantly swarmed by ecstatic crowds.

“That was amazing!” exclaimed someone Amity didn’t recognize.

“I didn’t know you were scared of anything, Amity,” another added.

“You’d be surprised,” Amity huffed under her breath. Never dropping Luz’s hand, she and Luz eventually fought their way through the crowd of bodies. When they exploded into the hallway and the gym doors shut behind them, a few friendly faces were already there waiting for them.

“Eda!” Luz sighed. “And Willow, and Gus, and King!” She rushed into Eda’s arms, meanwhile King hugged her leg.

“Ed! Em! Viney!” Amity was shocked to see them all in one place. “What are you doing here?”

She was answered with a crushing hug from both her siblings. “Mittens, that was incredible,” Em gushed. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“But we’re so glad you’re safe,” Ed put in. 

Viney, who stood to the side, looked rather amused. “My  _ date _ said that you’d probably come out here to escape everyone, so I followed her.”

Amity blinked at her sister. “I didn’t know Viney asked you to Grom.”

Em blushed. “Actually, I asked her.”

“Ha! I was right! Maybe this night wasn’t so bad after all.”

“Not so bad after all!” Em scoffed. “Please. You should have seen the look on your face when you were dancing with Luz. I’ve literally never seen anything sweeter. You looked like you were going to burst from happiness.”

“You were having a great time, we could tell,” Ed chimed in.

“Yeah, a great time almost getting killed.” Amity rolled her eyes.

“Speaking of which, what was all that about, like… a plan? Or whatever?”

“It was nothing. Don’t worry about it.” She flashed her sister the  _ I’ll tell you later  _ look.

“Ohhh.”

“I think the first slow dance is about to start since the battle is over now,” Willow said. “You guys should go back in!”

“I guess I should.” Although she was a little self conscious about dancing in front of a whole school, Amity wouldn’t pass up the opportunity. She’d left right before the first slow dances last time, having been too embarrassed to ask Luz to dance with her. Besides, she’d just fought the Isles’ most infamous nightmare monster. Compared to that, dancing with her girlfriend would be nothing. 

Luz’s face lit up. “That’d be so awesome! I really wanted to dance with you again after the Wailing Star Festival.” She spared Amity a wink. “You know, when our lives aren’t at stake.”

“Well?” Amity asked, holding her hand out palm up and smiling softly at her girlfriend. “May I have this dance?”

Luz interlocked their fingers and squeezed. “Always.”

Hand in hand, they reentered the gym.

Soft music was already playing when they went inside. Luz led Amity to a more secluded and less crowded corner of the room, where no one was paying attention to them but the music still flowed intimately around them. Soft purple lights enveloped the entire room. Amity thought they went perfectly with the violet on Luz’s tux and the dark wave of her hair. (She liked to think that they complimented her own suit, as well.)

Luz looped one arm around Amity’s waist and joined her other hand with her girlfriend’s. “You can lay your head on my shoulder, if you like,” Luz offered.

Amity did. Pressed up against Luz, she finally felt herself relax. “You’re real,” she whispered. 

“I am.”

“You’re not gonna leave me, right?”

“Not if I have any say in it.”

“Okay.” Amity exhaled. “Thanks.”

“Nothing to thank me for.”

They swayed in silence for a while. Amity’s focus drifted to the music, a soft piano ballad coupled with swelling strings. The ambient lighting made the whole thing feel like a dream. It was a good dream, though, and it was much more preferable than the images of her parents and the sounds of their screams that terrorized her every night. Her waking reality was finally better than her sleeping one.  _ Is that what love is? _

“Luz,” she said quietly.

“Hmm?”

“Is it weird that I think I’m falling in love with you?”

“I guess that’s just what happens when you defeat a terrifying demon with someone.”

Amity laughed.

“No, it’s not weird,” Luz said. “I… actually wanted to say the same thing, but I didn’t because everyone always told me that you can’t love until you’re older. I think that’s so dumb. Who cares what they think? Maybe it’s just my inner fanfic writer talking, but I think that the only criteria for something to be love is that you really and truly believe in it.”

“You should use that line in a story someday.”

“Maybe I will.”

Then the final chord of the song played. Amity lifted her head and gazed into Luz’s chocolate brown eyes. Both girls leaned in simultaneously. Amity cupped Luz’s cheek and kissed her softly, as if the world were ending along with the song, as if they’d never share a moment like this again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> once again this chapter was beta’d by the wonderful eli (@elderon) so go check out her stuff if you haven’t already!! she’s an amazing writer and editor 
> 
> the next chapter is mostly transitional and it’s a little short but after that... the end will be in sight :D


	19. Chapter 19

When Amity and her siblings got home that night, her parents weren’t there, so she was able to go quietly to her room and relax. As soon as she sat down on her bed exhaustion swamped her, and her eyelids began to droop. She put her Grom crown on her nightstand and placed her scroll next to it. She was just about to lean back and shut her eyes for just a moment when her scroll lit up with a notification. It was Luz. (Amity was still surprised that scroll numbers even worked in human cell phones.)

_ HEY AMITY!!! JUST WANTED TO LET U KNOW THAT I HAD AN AMAZING TIME TONIGHT AND I LOVED DANCING WITH YOU WAS JUST GDUYUHSFVEGWYUGQY!!!!!<3333333 ALSO I WAS RIGHT ABOUT YOU LOOKING STUNNING IN A SUIT LOLL _

(Luz tended to, more often than not, display her excitement very clearly in her texts.)

_ You have quite a way with words,  _ Amity replied.  _ But it’s okay. I feel the same way. Dancing with you was seriously awesome. :) And you were absolutely beautiful too! _

Luz sent back a few more exclamation points. Then her three little bubbles popped up again, and another text came through.

_ BY THE WAY!!!!! I HAVE GOOD NEWS!!! BUMP PULLED ME ASIDE AFTER YOU LEFT AND TOLD ME THAT I WAS ADMITTED TO HEXSIDE WHOOOO!!! AND HES LETTING ME START ON MONDAY! _

Amity let out a breath of relief. Sure, maybe this was a bit anticlimactic, but at least it had happened.  _ Congratulations! I’m so glad!<3  _ she texted.

_ I GUESS HEARING GROM CONFESS ABT THE FIRE WAS ENOUGH!! _

_ Thank goodness. _

_ ALSO ARE U GOING ON THE FIELD TRIP TUESDAY? IT LOOKS SUPER FUNNNNN AND IM ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO GO _

_The field trip_. Amity’s heart skipped a beat. The trip to the Emperor's Castle. The trip that had marked the beginning of the end. The trip that was part of the reason Amity was where- or when- she was.

_ I’m not sure… I’ll get back to you later. _

_ TONIGHT?? _

_ I hope so. But my parents aren’t home and I need to ask them to fill out the permission slip.  _ Now that she thought about it, Amity knew exactly where the permission slip was- tucked away in the back of the history textbook she hadn’t yet opened this semester. As soon as she’d received it from her teacher, she put it away where she wouldn’t have to deal with it. But she’d forgotten that Luz would have no idea about the trip’s disastrous outcome, and that her sometimes fatally curious girlfriend would probably want to go herself. Amity had been signed up for the field trip last time, but… she’d been hurt. Since Boscha had been relatively quiet all week- save for her forlorn staring at Willow during class- she’d figured that this time around, there wouldn’t be a grudgby game to get hurt in. 

_ WELL LMK WHAT THEY SAY _

_ Sure thing. I’ve gotta go to bed now. I’m tired.  _ Amity wasn’t actually tired- in fact, she felt more awake now than she had a few minutes ago- but now the issue of the field trip weighed heavy in her mind.

_ GNIGHT AMITY!!! <3333 _

Amity put a heart over the message and laid her scroll facedown on her bedside table. Then she flopped onto her back and pulled a pillow over her face. She was consciously aware that she was still lying in her itchy green suit, and that she could probably change, but for now, she just wanted to lay down and contemplate things.

Like  _ how in the universe  _ she had forgotten that the field trip to the Emperor's Palace was coming up in three days. 

Three days.

She should be able to solve this problem easily. She should be able to warn Luz to not go on this field trip, to keep herself and Eda safe and as far away from Lilith and the Emperor as possible. But Luz couldn’t know what Amity was doing. She couldn’t know what Amity knew.

Three sharp raps sounded on Amity’s door. She bit back a groan. Only one person in her family knocked like that, with a quiet, controlled urgency, like they wanted to knock down the door but their constant need for professionalism was keeping them from actually doing it.

“Come in,” Amity called. She knew had no choice but to invite them inside.

The door creaked open and the light turned on. Alador Blight poked his face into the room, his dark eyes finding his daughter immediately. Amity could see the silhouette of her mother, Odailia, hovering behind him. She bit her lip anxiously. Both her parents in one place never meant anything good. 

She recalled her confrontation with Grom- barely an hour ago- and the image it had shown her of her parents learning about Luz. Surely that wasn’t why her parents were here. How would they have found out about Luz, anyway? Em and Ed would never have ratted her out.

“Good evening, Amity,” Alador said, his voice low and rumbling in his chest. “I trust you had a pleasant time at Grom?”

Useless small talk. Another bad sign. “It was fine.”

“Emira and Edric told me you were chosen as Grom Queen.”

“Yeah, I was. It was tough, but I defeated Grom.” She pointed to the tiara on her dresser as if she thought her parents wouldn’t believe her. “My crown’s over there.”

Alador nodded. “That’s very good,” he said quietly, as if he were talking to himself. Then he went on, louder: “Do you mind if your mother and I come in for a moment?”

There it was. Something had definitely happened. Something that the Blight parents were none too happy about. Amity hoped that it was something as simple as a C she’d gotten on an assignment, but she knew that everything she’d turned in over the past two weeks had passed with flying colors.

“I was just about to go to bed-” Amity said lamely.

Alador’s eyes narrowed.

“Okay, come in. But I’m-” she stretched her mouth wide in an exaggerated yawn- “really tired. Fighting Grom just does that to you, you know?”

Her father said nothing. He stepped inside, the top of his head nearly brushing the doorframe, and sat himself down on Amity’s bed. The whole thing reminded her of the time two months ago when she’d told her siblings about the time spell. She wasn’t sure if they’d ever actually believed her.

Odalia followed Alador inside and sat down in the chair at Amity’s desk. She looked calm and contemplative- alarmingly so. Amity’s mother had never been much of a talker. She tended to leave that up to her husband- she preferred to control her children from afar.

“Oh, by the way,” Amity rambled, “there’s a field trip on Tuesday to the Emperor’s Castle and I’d really like to go. I have the permission slip that you can sign-”

“That’s quite enough, Amity.” Alador raised his hand to silence her. “We know about the trip. Boscha’s mother was telling your mother all about it when she was on the phone with her.”

Odalia nodded in confirmation.

“Which leads us into what we want to talk to you about,” Alador went on.

Amity blinked in surprise. “Boscha?”

“I suppose you could frame it that way. Boscha sent a message to her mother tonight during the dance, saying that she had not seen you anywhere, least of all with her.”

Amity shrugged. Her heart rate increased, and she tried her best not to look nervous. “Well, yeah, she wouldn’t have. I was getting ready for the fight.”

“She didn’t see you even after the fight ended.”

“So?” Amity couldn’t help but feel a bit defensive, though she knew that standing up for herself would only anger her parents more quickly. “I never promised I’d go to Grom with her. I’m allowed to hang out with other people.”

A brief flash of surprise crossed Alador’s face, and she knew instantly that she’d said too much. “Other people?”

“Yeah, like… um…”

“Like the human girl you kissed?”

The world screeched to a halt.

“Boscha saw everything, Amity. You can’t keep secrets from us.”

_ She was right. What she said at the Conjuring, about never covering for me again. It wasn’t an empty threat. And to think that Willow’s rejection had humbled her. _

“That didn't happen,” she breathed. Her head spun. “I- I’ve never kissed anyone in my life.” 

“Amity.” Alador’s voice was beginning to verge on a dangerous growl. “You know that the Blights-”

“Only associate with the best, I know, you’ve been drilling it into my head every day since before I even started elementary school.”

“ _ Amity! _ ” Alador roared. 

The sheer volume of her father’s yell caught Amity off guard and she flinched. Alador sat up straight on her bed, jaws clenched. He glared at her with a ferocious, terrifying gaze, and she shrunk back, clutching a pillow to her chest for some semblance of protection. She hated that she could only cower away from him.

“You’ve disobeyed one of the most important principles of the family by forming a…  _ relationship _ with this human girl. It’s simply inexcusable. If anyone from the Emperor’s Coven sees you with the human, you will surely never earn your spot. Losing Lilith as a mentor was bad enough-” Amity’s father began to rant, throwing frantic glances around the room and waving his hands.

“I don’t  _ want _ to be a part of the Emperor's Coven,” Amity interrupted. 

Alador’s cold eyes swiveled back to her. “What did you say?”

“I mean, it’s not my fault you weren’t at the witches’ duel back in June. You don’t know what the Coven’s capable of. I bet that Lilith never even told you exactly what happened, just that she’d decided to stop mentoring me. She wanted me to cheat. She wanted me to cheat in a duel against a human who couldn’t even do magic.” She decided to leave out the detail that Luz was already becoming a very proficient witch by then.

“So? Let the human get what was coming to her. If you want power, you have to make sacrifices.”

“I don’t want that kind of power. Not anymore.”

Odalia cleared her throat. “Alador, dear,” she said levelly, her tone insufferably pretentious. “You’re straying from the subject.”

“Look,” Amity said, “if you want me to consider the Emperor's Coven again, you’ll have to let me go on this field trip. We’re going to the castle, for stars’ sake. If anything will convince me to go back to my old ambitions, it’s seeing how the Coven works up close and personal.”

“Will the human be going on this trip?” Alador asked.

_ Unfortunately. _ “Yes, my girlfriend Luz is signed up to go.”

Odalia gasped and Alador’s scowl deepened. “Girlfriend!” groaned Odalia. “I knew I would hear you say those words eventually, but never about a human! Titan help you!”

Amity found herself laughing despite the tightness of fear in her lungs. “I’m beyond the Titan’s help, Mom.”

“The human should be put back where she came from. The only use humans have is for  _ studying _ and I believe that even those who study humans have bones for brains,” Alador muttered.

“ _ The human _ is the sweetest and most dedicated witch on the Isles.”

“And if I see you around her again, I’ll have to contact Hexside administration and convince them to remove you from your top student position.”

“It’ll take more than that to keep me away from Luz.” 

Her parents exchanged a look that said clearly,  _ she doesn’t give up, did she?  _ She wondered where she did get her determination from. Probably neither of them.

“Whatever,” Amity sighed dismissively. “Let me go on this trip and I won’t breathe a word about Luz ever again. That doesn’t mean we won’t stay together,” she added when Alador opened his mouth to say something more. “But I won’t talk about her around you, and you can pretend you have an absolutely perfect heir to the Blight name.”

“Your siblings are failures and so are you. Very well,” Alador grunted, “you may go on this trip. I suppose that nothing we can do will change you. But no humans in the house.”

“No humans,” Amity agreed. It wasn’t exactly a victory, but it was something.

She grabbed her scroll and sent a quick text to Luz.

_ I’m going! _

She’d defeated Grom. She’d confessed her feelings for Luz. She’d indirectly nearly burned Hexside to the ground. All these obstacles- nearly overwhelming, but she survived every time.

Now she had to face her last enemy: time itself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this one was short but the next one will be longer!!!


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is 50k words now,,, it’s officially a novel,,, my first novel is a lumity fic

4 AM, Tuesday, August nineteenth.

Amity should have been asleep, but she wasn’t. As soon as she’d shut her eyes on Monday night her mind had begun to spin, colors and images whirring in her brain that at first she couldn’t comprehend. So after a few hours of restless tossing and turning, she finally gave up and groggily switched on the bedroom light.

Now she sat hunched over her desk, pen in hand, staring down at the diagram she’d made on a scroll of parchment that stretched nearly off the desk’s edge.

_ June 2: Luz arrives  _ was written at one end of the parchment in neat cursive. Using a textbook she drew a straight line from one end to another, and then just under the  _ June 2,  _ she drew a second line. This line represented the branching timeline that she’d created and was currently occupying. At the end of the first line, she wrote in slightly messier script  _ October 18: Luz leaves.  _ Moving slightly to the left-  _ September 1: Luz’s intended departure. _ And a little more in that direction:  _ August 19: Portal is destroyed.  _

So what did this all add up to?

She placed the tip of her pen at the end of the second line. After a moment, the ink bled through the paper and created a dark, spreading splotch, so she drew it back. Then she wrote:

_ August 19th: Luz to Emperor's Castle. Tries to steal the healing hat but is caught by Lilith, leaving her as bait for Eda. _ Then she crossed out everything after the first sentence and replaced it with:  _ Luz does not try to steal the hat because I tell her that it is fake. Eda undergoes her curse and is still left in a weakened state for Lilith to find her and capture her. _

No, that wouldn’t work either. No matter what, everyone lost.

She laid her head down on the desk. What could she do besides stand by and watch? Could she help Luz rescue Eda from the petrification?

And just as importantly, would the portal still end up being destroyed?

Did she  _ want _ it to be?

Amity checked the clock. Five-fifteen. She’d been lost in her own spiraling thoughts for over an hour now. Sleepiness dragged at her eyelids, but her brain was still frantically working to put the pieces of the time conundrum together, and she found herself unable to focus on any one thing. 

She stayed up pondering the timeline she’d made for a while longer, though she always came to the exact same conclusion. She’d end up right back where she began. Without Luz.

Eventually it was images of such a lonely world that lulled her into a fitful sleep.

~

She slept through her alarm.

Five minutes after eight, Emira poked her head into Amity’s bedroom. “Turn off that infernal buzzing-” she began, but then her eyes landed on her little sister, who was snoring gently with her head resting on her desk and the extensively notated piece of parchment that lay across it.

That was when Amity drifted back into consciousness. “Huh…” she muttered, lifting her head. She rubbed her blurry eyes and squinted at Emira for a moment. “You…” Then her golden eyes stretched wide as a shot of adrenaline burst through her. “Oh, stars! The trip!”

Em blinked. “The trip.”

“Yeah.” Amity was already out of her seat and gathering her school uniform up in her arms from where she’d strewn it at the foot of her bed the previous evening. She waved her hand at Em. “Get out. Luz will be here soon-”

“But I thought Dad-”

“He never said anything about having humans  _ outside _ the house.” Amity pointed at the door. “Now go.”

Em looked a little offended. Amity rolled her eyes at her sister’s dejected look and crossed the room to hug her. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “It’s… time stuff. The spell…”

Em nodded. Amity knew she didn’t really understand at all, but it was the thought that counted, right? It was a miracle that Em believed Amity was a time traveler in the first place. (Though sometimes she wondered how true that was. Maybe time travel was the kind of thing you had to see to believe.)

Fifteen minutes later, while she sat on the massive front steps leading up to Blight Manor, she spotted a shape in the sky that was steadily growing larger.  _ Luz! _ She stood and waved, and the shape started to plunge out of the sky towards her. Just as she’d expected, it was Luz, along with Eda, both riding Owlbert.

They skidded to a halt and nearly slammed into a tree in the huge side yard. As soon as Eda had righted the staff Luz, who was already sporting the color uniform of an all-track student, leapt off and rushed into Amity’s arms.

Amity was nearly knocked backwards by the force of her girlfriend’s hug, but she eagerly returned the embrace. 

“I’m so excited for the trip today,” Luz gushed. “It’s gonna be so cool! And we actually get to go together!”

Amity pulled away but kept her arms wrapped around Luz’s waist. “It’ll be cool, but you have to promise me you won’t do anything risky. The Emperor’s Castle is dangerous and there are probably all sorts of bad things you could get into.”

Luz frowned. “I don’t have any  _ schemes, _ if you’re wondering.”

“I didn’t think you would. But you tend to be very… excitable and unpredictable.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Grinning, Luiz leaned forward and kissed Amity’s cheek. “Don’t worry, worrywart. You’ll be with me the whole time. I trust you to keep me in check.”

“Come on, lovebirds,” Eda yelled. “This staff isn’t gonna fly itself if I pass out from all your tooth-rotting cuteness. Now get over here. Besides, I need to get home soon and get the Emperor's guards off my lawn.”

Luz giggled. She took Amity’s hand and pulled her to where Eda was standing with Owlbert. “You get on after me and hold on to me so you don’t fall off,” she instructed. “It’s your first time flying a staff and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Okay.” It wasn’t actually Amity’s first time flying, but she wasn’t about to tell Luz that.

Luz mounted the staff and Amity followed, hugging her girlfriend from behind and placing her chin on her shoulder. She wasn’t really sure what Luz meant when she’d said “hold on to me” but what was so bad about a little cuddle session on the way to school?

Eda kicked off from the ground without warning and the three witches were sent careening into the air. Amity instinctively let out the tiniest of screams and tightened her grip on Luz. Luz yelled back over the wind that she thought it was cute.

Okay, so maybe it had been a few years since Amity had gone flying. Watching the ground grow farther and farther away, seeing the massive shape of Blight Manor reduced to a little speck in the landscape beneath her, it was all just a tad nerve wracking. Listening to the wind whistle past her ears at great speeds made her feel like she was about to fall off. 

Luz continued to yell over her shoulder throughout their flight. Amity couldn’t make out her words over the wind so she just murmured agreement and nodded until she saw the spires of Hexside below them and she let herself exhale in relief. When Eda touched down, Amity threw herself off of the staff immediately. Luz followed her.

“Bye, Eda!” Luz yelled. “Remember to take care of yourself! Drink lots of water! Take a nap! And don’t-”

“Thanks, kiddo,” interrupted Eda. “But I think I’ll be okay. I’ll just go out and find some more elixir and I’ll be fine.”

“Thank you for the ride, Eda,” Amity said politely. Eda waved a hand in acknowledgement and took off. 

Amity turned to Luz. “Her curse is getting worse again, isn’t it?” she asked, playing dumb.

Luz nodded grimly. “It took me like 10 vials of elixir to calm her down this morning.”

“That’s not good.”

“But she’ll be fine.” Luz put a wide grin on her face, but Amity could tell that her optimism was forced. “She’ll be good as new by the time I get home this afternoon.”

“Is there… anything you can do in the meantime to help her?” Amity was hoping to dispel any ideas Luz might have had about stealing that fake healing had while she had the chance.  _ Quit while you’re ahead, right? _

“No, but I do really think she’ll be okay. She was making a fancy spaghetti cloak thing before we came to pick you up. She said it protected her from some magic- maybe it’ll help with her curse, too.”

“Maybe.” She wished she could tell Luz that that cloak would never actually be Eda’s.

“But we can worry about that later,” Luz said brightly. “Today we’re going on a trip! In a flying dragon ship! And it’ll be great!”

“Great. More flying.”

“Aww, cheer up.” Luz slung an arm playfully around Amity’s shoulders. “We’ll be together, right? Our first trip as girlfriends! Isn’t that exciting?”

“Yeah.” Hearing Luz call them  _ girlfriends _ ( _ GIRLFRIENDS!!  _ Every time she heard it, no matter her mood, it brought a light flush to her cheeks and a smile to her face) eased a little bit of the worry churning in Amity’s stomach. “It is.”

“Let’s go. I think I saw Willow and Gus over there.” She pointed in the direction at the winged boat that Amity had pointedly been ignoring. “The four of us are gonna have a great time!”

Amity followed Luz towards the front steps of the school where Willow and Gus were standing. Gus had his nose buried in a pamphlet and was chattering animatedly, while Willow patiently listened.    
When Willow spotted Luz and Amity, she waved them over. Amity was beyond thankful that things between her and Willow weren’t too awkward now- she could hang out with Luz’s group of friends without feeling out of place. Willow had even told Amity that she was a good girlfriend for Luz, which she supposed was as much approval as she’d ever get.

“Luz, look at this!” Gus yelled. He shoved the pamphlet in Luz’s face. “It’s finally sinking in. We’re really going to the Emperor’s Castle!”

Luz took the pamphlet and studied it for a moment. “Yeah, I guess we are.”

Amity noticed a hint of regret- or was that  _ nervousness? _ \- in her girlfriend’s voice. She supposed it was reasonable though, considering that the Coven had been an enemy of Eda for years, and any enemy of Eda was an enemy of Luz’s. So naturally, she would be nervous about visiting. If it weren’t for the catastrophe that Amity knew would come if she sat back and did nothing, she wouldn’t have really wanted to go either, especially since she wasn’t Lilith’s student anymore.

Luz pulled the pamphlet slightly away from her face. “Wait, what’s this?” she asked, showing it to Willow.

Willow glanced at the page. “That’s the Healing Hat!” she said enthusiastically. “One of the coolest relics. ‘Cures any illness and heals any curse.’”

Luz hummed but didn’t respond. She was examining the page closely in silence. Amity could see the gears turning in her head, putting two and two together.

“Riveting stuff, huh?” Willow said.

Luz nodded and handed the pamphlet back to her friend. “Yeah. Really neat.”

“Personally, I’d like to see what the Oracle Sphere says to me,” Gus put in.

Willow ruffled Gus’s hair playfully. “You don’t need a stupid sphere to know that you’re always wonderful!”

Gus’s eyes shone at the compliment.

Amity was just about to say something to Luz-  _ I can see that you’re planning something, and if you go through with it you’ll end up getting captured but I’m not really sure how to explain that to you-  _ but she was cut off by Principal Bump calling for the students to board the boat. Instead she grumbled under her breath and followed her friends. She’d have plenty of time to talk to Luz about the disastrous plan once they were in the air- provided she wasn’t feeling too nauseous to talk.

Fortunately, the airship’s flight wasn’t anything like the erratic staff ride with Eda. There were actual, stable places to sit, and for a magical demon boat, it felt relatively safe. Amity was even feeling brave enough to place herself near the edge with Luz, Gus, and Willow. They chattered with each other while Amity sat in silence.

A while into the trip, Amity saw Luz sneak a notepad and pen out of her back pocket.

“Luz, what’s that?”

Startled, Luz shoved the notepad back into her pocket and stuck the pen behind her ear. “Nothing! I was just… doodling!”

“You can’t doodle on nothing, Luz.”

“Well, I finally figured out how to… draw glyphs in the air!”

“No, you didn’t. That is literally impossible.”

Luz pursed her lips, unsure how to defend herself. 

“I know what you’re planning,” Amity said sternly. “I know you want that hat for Eda. And I understand that you want to help her, but I have to tell you this- that hat is fake.”

Luz’s expression morphed into one of surprise, but then her eyes narrowed. “How do you know that?”

“I- uh-”  _ Because Future Luz told me?  _ “Blight family stuff. When I was Lilith’s student- she let us in on a lot of, y’know. Secrets.”

“Secrets,” Luz echoed. “Okay.”

“I’m serious. If you try to steal-”

She didn’t get to finish though, because the boat gave a heavy jolt. Amity tightened her grip on the edge and peered at the rapidly approaching ground below them. Not, not ground- a huge stone drawbridge stretched over a pit of nothingness, so deep she couldn’t see the bottom. 

They were here.

The sight of the Emperor's Palace filled Amity with a kind of primal panic. She’d never been here before herself, but she’d heard Luz’s stories, and they terrified her to the core. The whole place was even darker and more foreboding than Luz had described. The eerily quiet atmosphere, the beaked guards standing at the drawbridge, the gleam of bones far far down in the pit- chills ran down Amity’s spine at the mere sight. She sat still for a moment, petrified. She only realized that the students were leaving the boat when she felt Luz’s hand wrap gently around her wrist. She startled. “Sorry,” she said. “It’s- I just-”

“It’s okay, Amity.” Luz helped Amity to her feet and they descended off the boat hand-in-hand. “It’s pretty eerie here. I’m nervous too.”

“Only because you’re about to commit a heist.”

“I still want to try. Maybe you’re wrong. I really like you, Amity, and I trust you, I just- what if there’s something here that can help Eda. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”  _ I guess I’ll just have to rescue you when you inevitably get yourself into some sort of horrible danger. _

They followed their class across the drawbridge and tucked themselves neatly into the back of the crowd so as not to draw too much attention to themselves. Amity found herself only half-listening to Kikimora, Belos’ personal assistant- she was tired of hearing the same “this Coven is  _ wonderful,  _ if you find yourself here in the future you are  _ very very lucky and privileged”  _ over and over again. 

Had she still been interested in joining the Coven, she would have found the tour very fascinating. Kikimora explained the Isles’ history in the way all the students had heard it since before they could even cast a spell, but surrounded by the walls of the palace, the story was much more chilling.

At one point during the tour, Luz diverted from the group and started pulling on a vent in the wall. With a sharp glare, Amity grabbed her girlfriend’s arm and dragged her away. 

She kept her grip on Luz as the students entered the artifact room. Short pedestals lining both sides of the room held the glowing, floating artifacts, and a few of the students started to gravitate towards the ones they thought were the coolest.

“I could grow such beautiful things with that,” Willow said dreamily as she passed the Plant Coven’s glove. Gus gave the Oracles’ crystal ball a tap as he walked by.

Luz clearly had a lot of restless energy pent up inside her. She was practically shaking with desire to grab the Healing Hat. Amity wished she could remind Luz again that the artifacts didn’t actually work, but Luz was far too stubborn to hear a word of it. 

“Here at the Emperor's Coven, we require members with sophistication, elegance, and grace,” Kikimora drawled as the students left the artifact room. Luz’s muscles visibly tensed as they passed in front of the castle’s front door- Amity guessed she was itching to run back into the artifact room and retrieve the hat.

_ But I won’t let her. It’ll only get us in trouble. _

The door abruptly slammed open when Kikimora drew the group to a stop. Amity stared at the raven-haired witch who stood in the doorway, disheveled and pulling leaves out of her hair. Even from a distance, Lilith’s green eyes blazed with anger. She crossed wordlessly in front of the students, and before her former mentor could catch sight of her, Amity ducked behind a golden pillar, dragging Luz with her. 

The awed whispering of the other witches increased as Lilith passed. Amity held back a mirthless laugh. If only they knew what Lilith was really like.

Kikimora gazed at Lilith with a half-lidded, disapproving gaze. “Yes. And if I’m not mistaken, she’s on her way to see the Emperor herself. Let’s all wish her luck.” There was a strange, dripping poison in the tiny’s witch’s voice.

“Good luck, Miss Lilith,” the students chorused.

Lilith, her back to the group, drew in a breath. “Thank you students,” she said courteously, then added under her breath as she stalked away, “Good luck with puberty.”

Kikimora ignored Lilith’s snide comment. “This way, children.”

Amity squeezed Luz’s hand and started after them. She didn’t move more than a step, though, because Luz was stubbornly rooting herself to the spot. Amity tugged again and she still did not budge. “Come on, Luz,” she sighed. “We’ve just got to finish the tour. I know you want to go back for the hat, but-”

“It’s not the hat I want.”

Amity turned back to look at Luz. “Huh?”

Luz lifted her chin. There was an odd, steely look in her eyes Amity had never seen before. This Luz had a goal- a goal Amity knew nothing about- and she would clearly stop at nothing to achieve it. The girl with a gentle smile and a warm brown gaze was gone, replaced with one who, at fourteen, had clearly seen too much. “We’re going to follow Lilith?”

“ _ We?” _

“Amity, you’ve been my biggest supporter and my closest, most wonderful companion through the last couple months. We  _ have _ to do this together. We  _ have  _ to know what Lilith wants with Eda. There’s something more to the curse than they’re letting on, I need to know what it is.”

Amity looked at the ground. “I just want you to be safe.”

“And I  _ will  _ be.” Luz’s face softened unexpectedly. “We’ll be together. I never feel safer than when I’m with you. We’ve been through a lot together. We have a lot in common, you know. There’s no better team than us.”

Amity exhaled. “Okay.” She looked back up at Luz, and their gazes met, and she knew right away that Luz was telling the unadulterated truth. “Okay,” she repeated, stronger this time. “I’ll go with you.”

The beginning of a grin tugged at the corner of Luz’s lips. Then she jerked Amity away, dragging her down the next hallway and up a set of stairs.

“Which way did Lilith go?” Amity whisperedyelled. Luz ignored her and took another sharp right, then ducked down a short corrider lit only by the pale light of a few torches until they spotted Lilith’s dark hair and pale skin standing in front of a tall double door at the end of the hall.

The Coven leader appeared to compose herself; she brushed a few remaining feathers and branches out of her clothes and took another deep breath. The door swung open by itself.

A low, eerie thumping noise drifted from the room. It lasted only long enough for Amity to wonder if she’d imagined it, but the doors shut again, leaving her ears ringing with silence.

“That’s our cue,” Luz whispered.

“Our cue for what?”

“Just follow me!” Luz exploded out from behind the pillar she’d taken refuge by and skidded to a halt in front of the double doors. Amity stopped a few feet behind her, hesitant.

“Well?” Luz glanced over her shoulder. “Are you in or are you out?”

“In for what? I don’t know what you’re- Luz, I don’t understand. Why are we spying on the Emperor? You’re going to get us killed.”

“We’re not just spying, Amity.” Luz reached into her pocket and pulled out a glyph. “Come on. This is where it ends.”

“Where  _ what  _ ends-”

Amity had no time to protest. Luz’s hand found hers again, and suddenly everything was moving so  _ fast: _ the door to the Emperor’s room was suddenly being pushed open, and Belos and Lilith were looking up at both the witchlings; and shock registered on Lilith’s face; and a long and sword-sharp spike of us was protruding from the ground and sticking itself right into one of the glowing eye holes of Belos’ mask.

Belos roared as a corner of his mask fell away and clattered to the ground at his feet. He stood and faced Luz, a tangible intensity radiating from him. Amity thought she might die right then and there.

“Luz, what are you doing?” she cried.

“This is for Eda!” Luz screeched. “You’ve hurt her for the last time!” She slapped another glyph onto the floor. The tiny paper burst into flame, and a fireball the size of which Amity hadn’t seen since the Hexside fire careened towards the Emperor. Lilith ducked to avoid it.

With the smallest flick of Belos’ wrist, the fireball evaporated into thin air.

The Emperor focused his malignant stare on Luz. Vines erupted from the ground and wrapped themselves around Luz’s ankles, sending the human tumbling with a yelp to her knees. A moment later, Amity followed. She hissed as her knees scratched the coarse carpet and dull pain erupted on the skin.

“How interesting,” rumbled Belos. “The human witch of the Isles. And the former student of my  _ faithful  _ Coven leader, breaking into my palace and attacking me.” He looked at Lilith in a way that suggested he regarded her as anything but faithful. “How courageous of them.”

Luz tried to stagger to her feet but was quickly brought down again by the vines, this time rougher than before. “You hurt Eda,” she snarled. “You’ve both made her life miserable. I’m here to take back what never should have been taken away from her.”

“And what’s that?” Belos tilted his head. “Her life before the curse? Her freedom? 

“If you don’t recall, human, it’s your fault I’ve been so close to capturing her,” Lilith interjected. “If you’d never showed up-”

“Silence!” Belos barked. “You may have gotten close, but you have still failed! You’ve no right to speak here!”

Lilith set her jaw and said nothing.

“Luz, I don’t understand what you’re doing. You're putting me in danger. You’re putting  _ yourself  _ in danger. You have to know you’re not going to gain anything from this. Provoking the Emperor- please tell me what you were thinking!”

“I’m not going to fail,” Luz said through gritted teeth.

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“I said, I’m not going to fail! I know what I’m supposed to do, and this is it!”

A realization dawned on Amity. Terror rose up inside her. Pieces were fitting together in a terrible puzzle that she knew she should never have discovered. The more she thought about it, the more she felt like she was suffocating. Her lungs burned as she opened her mouth to speak. “Luz, how did you learn your first four spells?”

“What does that even have to  _ do  _ with anything?” Luz tried to stand up again, but once more, she was dragged back to the ground. Belos watched on. If he could have looked amused, Amity was sure she would have.

“Answer my question.”

“You taught me the glyphs,” Luz said. “You said so yourself. “‘Hey Luz, I know how to teach you a fire glyph. I know how to teach you an ice glyph.’ Boom. All set for Hexside.”

“Natural-born witches can’t see glyphs, Luz. That’s something only you can do.”

Quick as a flash, the vines disappeared and a wide blue bubble appeared around the witchlings, enclosing them together in a glass shield. Lilith was holding her staff at arm’s length, the palisman pointed directly at them.

“Quiet, children,” Belos chided. “I’ve just come up with a wonderful plan to ensure that the Owl Lady comes within my grasp so that her little curse may be lifted.”

“You’re not gonna heal her and you know it!” Luz spat.

Belos heaved a sigh and flicked the bubble into the corner of the throne room as if he were simply a small child with a toy. “Young witches are so loud these days. Lilith, send your staff out. Ensure that it’s back by sundown. _ With the Owl Lady. _ ”

Lilith dipped her head. “Of course.” With a thrust of her arm, the doors parted and the staff flew away. 

Amity watched in dry-mouthed terror. 

“Luz,” she said desperately, turning back to her girlfriend. “Luz, please explain something to me-”

“He’s not gonna get away with it!”

“Luz!”

“I’ll show him what for.” Luz’s hands found her tufty hair and she frantically turned a strand around on her finger.”He’ll never-”

“ _ Luz!” _

Luz’s whole posture deflated. She slumped onto the ground and pulled her knees to her chest. “I just thought… maybe I could finally win. Maybe I could finally help Eda.”

Amity sat next to Luz and put her hand on the human’s shoulder. “Luz, look at me,” she said softly.

Luz turned her soulful brown eyes to Amity. 

“This isn’t your first time fighting Belos, is it?”

Luz’s gaze clouded. She looked away. She remained silent for a moment that seemed to stretch on for a century. At last, she reached into the pocket of her tunic and pulled out a wrinkled piece of paper. When Amity outstretched her palm, Luz gave her the paper wordlessly.

The paper was thin and yellowed, and it was crumbling around the edges. It looked like it had been torn from a book. As Amity unfolded it, she feared it would turn to dust. It was hard to read in the low light of the throne room, but when she held it up so that it caught the firelight of a torch, she could see the ink clearly.

On it was a drawing of a glyph. 

Under the glyph, in faint print, was the caption:  _ This was the glyph used to complete the Rectification spell before witches began to evolve with bile sacs and the natural capability for magic. _

And below that, in a large, elegant, swirling font:

_ Once the glyph is activated, these words must be uttered: _

_ “To rewind, to rectify, _

_ To try again, to make it right, _

_ Remember now the start of time, _

_ Go back and don’t put out the light.” _

Amity’s hands shook as she pocketed the paper. 

“Do you understand?” Luz whispered.

“I- I do,” Amity said shakily. “You… you’re…”

“I’m not from here.”

_ She’s not talking about the human realm. _ Amity inhaled. Then she exhaled. Inhale again. Exhale again. “Me neither,” she said after a moment.

“I know.”

Silence.

“You didn’t say anything.”

“No,” Luz admitted. “I didn’t.”

“So why…”

“It was none of my business. You had something you still needed to do, and so did I, so I never questioned you.” Luz swallowed and Amity realized she must be holding back tears. “I didn’t know what it was at first that I had come back here for. But… but now I do. There was more than one thing, I think. The first was… to figure out everything with you, of course.” Her shoulder brushed Amity’s for a moment. It was a small, seemingly insignificant gesture, but to Amity, it spoke volumes.  _ We share a deeper connection than you ever thought _ , it said.

“The second was to save Eda,” Luz went on. “I didn’t know exactly what that entailed. Honestly, I still don’t. But I never… I never went through the portal, Amity. You all left a few minutes before it closed. So, I took my chances and came back through, thinking that I could find something, some clue, some reason I felt like I was being pulled back. I was confused at first… something was  _ calling  _ to me. I had unfinished business here and I needed to know what it was. So I went to our tree- the one we made at Grom-”

“And you found a key.”

“I found a key.”

“Was it… given to you?”

Luz’s eyes flashed with a quiet revelation. “You met it too.”

“Yeah.”

“I figured you had. The way it talked to you at the dance, all that about a deal…”

Amity stared around the room for a moment. Belos still sat on his throne, with Lilith standing stoically at his side. Both pointedly ignored the witchlings. “It was trying to pit us against each other, wasn’t it? It wanted to feed off of our fears. Mine that you’d… never like me the way I liked you. Yours that you still had one more mark to leave on the Isles, even though you didn’t know what it was.”

“But we were together this time around. And we’re stronger than our fears,” Luz said, squeezing Amity’s hand.

Amity squeezed back. “We are.”

“What do we do now?”

Amity pondered this. “I’m not sure.”

“Should we wait?”

“I guess that’s all we can do.”

Amity pressed herself against Luz. She put her arm around Luz and drew the human- the human she loved- closer, as if they weren’t living in a horrific dream, as if their perceptions of reality weren't changing by the second. If she closed her eyes she could almost imagine Luz’s bedroom, see the otter onesie hanging on the door, feel the breeze from the open window on her face, pretend they were there instead.

Luz rested her head on Amity’s shoulder.

And they waited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> last chapter will be up tomorrow night <3 prepare for a sappy endnote!!!


	21. Chapter 21

They didn’t have to wait long.

Not even fifteen minutes later, a bang sounded on the doors of the throne room. Amity jerked her head up and stared as they blew open with a blinding spear of light that flew straight at Belos. He merely shifted to the side to avoid it.

When the light faded, Amity made out the shape of Eda, floating a couple feet off the ground. Her face was etched with pure fury, her teeth bared in a menacing snarl. Even Amity couldn’t help but be intimidated by the frenzy written across the Owl Lady’s features. Once the light had disappeared completely Eda dropped to the floor, panting, and stared up at the Emperor and his Coven head. She hadn’t seemed to notice Luz and Amity yet.

“I see you got my invitation to a witches’ duel,” Lilith said coldly.

Eda didn’t reply verbally. She gathered up another barrage of fire and flung the flames in every direction, not even flinching as one hit a pillar and crashed to the ground a few inches away.

“Eda!” Luz yowled. She banged her fists against the bubble, but the thick magic barrier muffled her cries.

Lilith shot her own blast of blue magic at her sister. “Where is she?” Eda spat as she ducked underneath it.

Lilith waved her hand dismissively at the space next to the throne where Amity and Luz were trapped. “They’re safe. For now.”

Eda’s eyes went wide with shock when she saw the bubble. “You took Amity too?” 

“It wasn’t hard. She follows the human around everywhere like a sad puppy.”

“Give them back.”

“Oh, you can  _ have  _ them back. I don’t particularly need them for anything important. You just need to give yourself to the Coven nicely, and we’ll ensure that no harm comes to the human and her little pet.” 

“Bonehead back there’s awfully quiet,” Eda mocked. “Is he making his Coven leader do all his dirty work now? That’s a new low.” She snorted. “You’ve always looked down on me because I’m wild, sister. But all that means is that I’ve worked harder than the both of you combined!” She slammed the butt of her staff into the floor and the shape of a great fiery owl rose behind her and spread its wings. 

Amity gasped. If they all hadn’t been in mortal danger, the sight would have been majestic.

Then the two witches fought. Blue against golden, the owl against the raven. The Emperor on his throne looked almost bored.

“It’ll be over soon, it’ll be over soon, it’ll be over soon,” Luz whispered to herself. Amity offered her a comforting touch to her hand.

A particularly strong burst of magic hit Eda and she fell to the ground with a screech. She sat on her hands and knees for a moment, gasping for breath. When she looked up, she met Lilith’s cool gaze evenly.

“It’s sad to see you slowing down, sister,” Lilith murmured. “You poor thing. The curse must really be taking its toll.”

Even from a distance Amity could see the darkness in Eda’s gem spreading. Eda didn’t have much time left in this form, and judging from the devastated look on Luz’s face, Luz knew that too. Amity’s heart ached for her girlfriend.  _ It must be so horrifying to have to go through this twice. I can’t imagine…  _

“I don’t know if the curse is the reason I haven’t blasted you to shreds yet,” Eda replied. “But if it is, then how pathetic are you that with Belos at your back you still can’t best me at my worst?” With these words, she released her most powerful-looking attack yet, a dozen flashing lightning bolts that filled the room with scorching energy. It was useless, though- Lilith put up a shield around herself, not unlike the one that Amity and Luz were being contained in, and the magic deflected off the sides, leaving only a few small cracks in the glass.

“You may have worked harder but I worked smarter.  _ I  _ was the one who joined the Emperor's Coven.  _ You  _ were not. That’s a real sign of power.”

“I gave up my spot willingly!” hissed Eda.

“Only because you were too weak to take it. Because you couldn’t duel me. Because you had been  _ so  _ easy to curse!” The second the words had been spoken, Lilith slapped her hand to her mouth. 

Eda’s staff clattered to the ground.   
Amity glanced at Luz. Her girlfriend pulled her knees to her chest and let out an eerie, keening moan. Her devastation at seeing her mentor endure this reveal for the second time was nearly tangible. 

“And I- I can remove it-” Lilith amended hurriedly. “If only you’d give me a chance-”

“I will never fall prey to your games,” Eda interrupted. She threw herself at her sister, knocking them both at the wall just above Belos’ head and below the great thumping green heart. This seemed to take the last of her strength, as by the timeand thatwhen she crashed to the ground at Belos’ feet, her gem was completely black.

“No!” Luz held out her hand as if in one last desperate attempt to reach Eda.

Eda struggled to her knees. Her golden stare finally met Luz’s and she took a deep breath. “Okay, kid,” she said grimly. Already the darkness in her gem was spreading to the whites of her eyes. “I’m going away, and I don’t know if I can bounce back this time. Watch over King. Remember to feed Hooty. Amity- thank you for being there for Luz. And Luz, thank you for being in my life.”

“Not again,” Luz whispered. “Please. I don’t want to see this again.”

It was too late. Feathers sprouted on Eda’s limbs. Her ears elongated, her talons grew sharp, and a huge pair of wings unfolded on her back. She roared once and the transformation was complete. 

Luz began to sob. It wrenched her heart almost as much as having to see Eda’s horrific demise up close.

Within a moment, long red cords had wrapped themselves around the Owl Beast’s body and pinned her to the ground. Eda shrieked and lashed out with her claws, but the Emperor's magic had already contained her. From his throne, Belos let out a low chuckle. 

“It is complete,” Lilith said quietly. She sounded strangely… regretful.  _ She loves Eda. She really does,  _ Amity thought.  _ She’s just going about it in all the wrong ways. _

“You will heal her now, yes?”

“I believe you are mistaken.” Belos snapped his fingers and four guards appeared from the shadows behind the throne.  _ Were they there the whole time? _ Amity wondered. “We will not be healing her. She is a perpetrator of wild magic, and there is only one way to deal with those who break this rule. This is the will of the Titan.”

“Not healing her,” Lilith said. “So… so you’re…”

“Petrifying her, yes. The same way we’ve been petrifying wild witches for fifty years. The Day of Unity is nearly upon us. I need only one thing before Edalyn is gone, and that’s the portal the human came through. I will get that from her before the ceremony- which I would like to hold now. Let’s get it done with as  _ quickly  _ as possible.” He pointed at the guards and barked a command. “Holding cell. Now.”

The guards obeyed and dragged the wailing Owl Beast away. 

Belos turned to the orb that held Luz and Amity. “As for these two…” He flicked his wrist and the bubble disappeared. “Go quietly, please. We’d hate to have any disturbances before the ceremony begins. This one is  _ very  _ important.”

To Amity’s surprise, Luz dipped her head respectfully. “Okay.”

Amity followed Luz out of the throne room, the thumping of the great green heart echoing in her ears.

Once they were well away from Belos, Luz grabbed Amity’s arm and pulled her into a dark corridor. “Here’s the plan.”

“We have a plan?”

“We’ll do it just like last time. Except I’ll have you to help me.” Luz hesitated. “You… want to help, right?”

“I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world,” Amity assured her.   
“Good. I wouldn’t be able to do it without you.” Luz’s eyes shone with affection, and Amity found herself wondering why she’d ever doubted her. “So. This time, the ceremony will be held almost twenty-four hours earlier, which means we need to be faster. No running around the human realm. No sitting through Lilith’s sob story. If she tries to pull that on us, we run away.”

“Hopefully we won’t even run into her.”

“Hopefully not. Anyway, I know how to get into Eda’s holding cell from here. We’ll need to go quickly and get on the platform with Eda as fast as possible- Belos will be down there, just like he was last time, and…” Luz seemed to struggle to get her next words out. “He’ll… he’ll want the portal.”

A cold ball of dread appeared in Amity’s stomach. “No…”

“I have fire glyphs on me. I can destroy it.”

“You shouldn’t need to.”

“Amity, it’s alright. It means I’ll get a few more months with you,” Luz said softly. “I miss my mom, but… I’ll miss you too when I’m gone. At least this way I’ll be able to give you the goodbye you deserve.”

Amity shrugged. “That’s why I’m here, I guess, and I… I never would have predicted how amazing the last couple months have been. I wouldn’t have traded them for anything in the world.”

Luz wrapped Amity in a tight hug. “Me neither.” She pulled back and offered her girlfriend a small smile. “Let’s go rescue Eda.”

Amity joined her hands with Luz’s, and they ducked out of the corridor. 

The hallways were quiet. Surely everyone in the castle had already caught word of the Petrification and was beginning to gather in the plaza where the ceremony would take place. As they darted around, Amity kept her ears pricked, but there was no sign of danger- or of any other presence at all.

It took them several minutes to find the holding cell, and Amity feared they were already too late. But Luz remained determined and was no longer showing any sign of fear. She slapped an ice glyph on the cell’s padlock. The ice broke and the ice fell away. Luz bowed her head. “This is it,” she whispered. “This is where it ends.”

Then she pushed open the door.

Stale, cold air hit Amity’s face when she stepped inside, and she wrinkled her nose in disgust. The dank stone-lined walls gave off a horrible feeling of fear, of begrudging defeat, of one last battle that was never won. Eda must have already gone insane in here. Amity knew she would have.

On the far end of the room tethered to a round platform by chains that radiated magical energy, was Eda. Her eyes were shut and she emanated soft growls as the two girls approached. It was almost like she was crying. Could a creature like the Owl Beast feel sorrow in this state?

Luz approached the platform and reached an arm out. Amity trepidatiously remained a pace behind her. She noticed that Luz kept one hand hovering over the pocket of her tunic- presumably ready to bring out her glyphs if- and when- the need arose.

“Eda,” Luz murmured. “Hey.” 

The beast’s eyes snapped open and it roared. She bared her teeth and snapped at Luz, but the chains kept her in place.

Bringing out a glyph, Luz created a small light orb and shone it close to Eda’s face. “It’s okay. It’s just me. It’s Luz.”

The glassy gaze of the Owl Beast vanished instantly and was replaced with a much more humanoid expression. When Eda registered the presence of her visitors, she blinked in shock. “Oh no. No no no no no. Why are you two still here? Belos told you to leave!”

“I’d never do anything Belos told me to,” Luz said bravely.

_ Courageous words for someone who knows Belos is probably watching us right now. _

“You’re not safe here, kid. I know you want to rescue me, but you can’t. It’s alright.” Eda tapped Luz lightly with one claw. “You know, I’ve lived a good life. I got away with a lot… a lot more than most witches like me can usually get away with. And I got to train you, even if it was only for a little while. I’ve never been happier than when I got to know you.”

The heartfelt words did nothing to deter Luz from her goal. “I’m rescuing you anyway. I know exactly how I’m going to do it, and I’ve got Amity to help me this time.”

Amity nodded in confirmation.

“This time?” Eda asked, startled. “Never mind. I admire your determination, but…” She sighed forlornly and stretched one birdlike arm into the mane of feathers atop her head. When she drew out the familiar key and tapped the eye to open the portal, she handed it to Luz. “You already have a family. Go back to them.”

Luz didn’t even turn around to look at the portal that had opened behind her. “Eda,  _ you’re  _ my family. And I’m going to save you.”

“You can’t. Just go!”

“Eda!” Luz pressed herself into Eda’s chest and wrapped her arm around Eda’s wide, feathery frame. “I’m going up with you.”

Eda recoiled. “You’ll do no such thing!” she snapped. 

“Amity, come on.” Luz clambered onto the platform and extended her hand. “Let’s go. We’re gonna end this right now.”

“Luz-”

Amity was interrupted when the dull gray lighting in the cell suddenly switched to a harsh red that made her head ache. Luz continued to cling to Eda, but Eda picked her student up by the cowl and placed her on the floor. “Save yourself, Luz,” she said weakly. “Before my sister comes back. Get yourself out of here!”

“I can’t leave you!”

Amity briefly touched Luz’s shoulder. “Luz, it’s okay. We’ll have another chance. The platform will come back down, and-”

“Well, I was  _ hoping _ I wouldn’t have to face Belos this time, but okay.” 

Amity could only watch as bars appeared around the platform where Eda stood, and the cage began to ascend. Eda looked hopeless, heartbroken, and regretful. It was strange to see the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles have to admit defeat.

It made her very scared. After all, if Eda couldn’t fight her way out, how would a couple teenagers manage an escape from the Emperor?

_ She’s done it once, she can do it again. I need to have faith in her. _

When Eda was out of sight and silence had fallen over the holding cell, Luz clicked the eye on the key and the portal closed back up. It condensed itself into its case and she clutched it to her chest. “I was hoping she’d listen to me,” she mumbled. “I was hoping I could get up there before Belos even knew I was here. Then I’d stop the Petrification before it even began…”

Chills racked Amity’s body. “We’ll be alright,” she lied. She wouldn’t admit as much to Luz, but she was terrified. If this played out like it had last time, and they’d have to face Belos head-on… she reminded herself that Luz had done it all alone before. And she knew she wasn’t as half as brave as Luz. But she did know that she had to try.

As if on cue, another light turned on the back of the holding cell.

“Wonderful attempt, children. But I’m afraid there’s no hope for the Owl Lady now.”

_ Belos. _

It was a little strange that the emperor of the Isles had a makeshift throne in the dungeon’s holding cell. It was almost as if he’d created it for this perfect theatrical moment. And theatrical it was- Belos’ glowing blue eyes piercing in the low light, the constant thump of Amity’s heart in her own ears, the stifling and stale air around them. He made no attempt to move at first, instead merely watching the two witchlings with terrifyingly cold interest.

“I know you want this!” Luz yelled, holding out the portal case. “And I’ll give it to you as long as you let me go up to Eda!”

“Ever the hero, aren’t you, human,” Belos sighed. “It’s an admirable quality. But I’m afraid you don’t need it here.”

“I’ll save her! I will! Just watch!”

Belos stood up. “You know, you’ve a strange aura about you.” He crossed the cell and bent over Luz and Amity. “Ever since you arrived in the throne room, I’ve sensed it, and I’ve had many questions. How I yearned to ask you about it. And- ah, I believe I might have an idea of what it could be.” He held out his hand and lifted both girls into the air- first Luz, and then Amity. The breath was sucked out of Amity’s lungs and she choked on nothing. From the looks of it, Luz was in similar pain, and she’d dropped the portal in the process. “You’ve both been tampering with some strange and wild magic.”

“Let us go!” Amity gasped. 

Luz thrashed around in the Emperor’s invisible grip. “Please! I’ll give you the portal! Just put us down!”

“The portal’s not half as interesting as what I’m about to learn from you,” murmured Belos. After a moment of pondering, he let out a deep and threatening chuckle. “Strange magic from before the Savage Ages. You’ve certainly that energy about you. And judging from your conniving whispers and planning earlier…” He tilted his head. “Could you have tampered with time? Have you already lived this day?”

“Time magic isn’t real,” Luz said weakly.

“It disappoints me greatly that the witches of the past have felt the need to hide this knowledge of magic from me. What an incredible invention. Don’t they know that it’s the will of the Titan that powerful knowledge like that is shared with me?”

“We don’t do anything wrong!” Luz protested. “I’m just a human, I can’t even do magic! And Amity’s still in school, she, she… she’s not fully trained yet!”

Belos jerked his neck around to look at Amity. “Is that a valid excuse?”

Amity swallowed. “Yes-”

“Wrong answer.” Belos dropped them both and they fell, shrieking, onto the elevating platform which had since returned to the ground. “And there is only one way to deal with perpetrators of wild magic.”

Amity looked at Luz. “He doesn’t mean-”

“Yes, yes, I do believe this means you will be suffering the same fate as your beloved Edalyn. I suppose it is sad… Amity, did you say your name was? Amity here had her whole future ahead of her. But I cannot allow you to go on knowing what you do.” He tapped his fingers on the head of his staff. The same bars that had enclosed Eda on her way up now surrounded Luz and Amity. Tears appeared in Luz’s eyes and she threw herself into Amity’s arms.

“Though it will have to be just a moment before we move you up there. After all, we must wait for the previous Petrification to finish. We cannot have two ceremonies going on at once.”

“Eda,” Luz sobbed. “We’re gonna be too late.” She buried her face in Amity’s shoulder. 

Belos jerked Luz away from Amity and turned the human upside down so that all the glyphs in her pockets fluttered through the bars of the cage and landed at his feet. “Ah, that’s much better. You certainly won’t be needing those up there.” He deposited Luz where she’d been. Amity curled her arms around Luz protectively.

Then they were rising.

It was a strange feeling, watching the malevolent form of the Emperor grow smaller and smaller as they got higher and higher. As they rose towards the light, Amity closed her eyes. She didn’t want to see the crowds that remained for Eda’s petrification that would now witness the demise of the two young witches.

The sunlight struck her much more forcefully than she expected and she instinctively blinked her eyes back open. The crowd was still large, and if Amity squinted she could see a few familiar faces in the crowd.

Luz’s many-eyed demon friend from the Conformatorium.

Principal Bump.

Gus.

Willow.

Luz seemed to see their friends as well. As if the full gravity of the situation finally hit her, she let out a loud, grief-stricken caterwaul. Amity pulled her closer. The contact was all she could do to comfort her girlfriend.

“In a shocking turn of events, two new witches have come up for Petrification,” declared the announcer. Amity recalled somewhere that this was Gus’s father, whose tone betrayed only an alarming neutrality. “Amity Blight and Luz the human, participating in what looks to be the hug of the century.”

“We should stand up,” Amity whispered. “Face them with dignity. It’s the best way to go out, right?”

“We shouldn’t have to be here at all,” Luz sobbed. “This is all my fault, I-”

Amity gently turned Luz’s face towards her own and brushed a tear out of the corner of the human’s eye with her thumb. “Shh. Look at me. It’s nobody’s fault.” 

“It’s mine-”

“It’s  _ no one’s fault.” _ Amity re-emphasized. She brought them both to their feet just as the eyes of the stone statue next to the cage lit up and the volume of the crowd increased, disbelieving murmurs mixed with outraged screams of protest.

“Wait.” Luz’s eyes flashed with recognition. “Isn’t…”

Amity’s feet suddenly felt strangely heavy. Actually, no- she couldn’t feel them at all, and she realized that the petrification beam was moving upwards, slowly encasing her in stone. “Isn’t what?”

“In your pocket…”

Just as the numbness reached her knees Amity reached her hand into her pocket and pulled out the page that Luz had given her from the time spell book. “Luz, you’re a genius,” she choked out.

“It’s our only way out.”

“But…” Amity hesitated. “Everything we’ve been through together. We can’t just throw it all away. What about us? What about the things we’ve seen together, the memories…”

“The memories won’t go away,” Luz reminded her. 

“Can’t we just go back to before you left?”

“You and I both know that’s not in either of our best interests,” Luz said firmly. “It’s just like Belos said. You’ve got your whole life ahead of you. You’ll go on and do great things, Amity. I know you will. You need to go live your life.”

Now her waist was gone. 

“But what about you?” Amity asked. “I wasted your time. I came back to be with you, and now look how badly I’ve messed everything up.” Now it was her turn to hold back tears. “I was falling in love with you, remember?”

“Just because we didn’t last forever doesn’t mean we wasted time.”

_ Just because we didn’t last forever doesn’t mean we wasted time. _ Amity turned the words around in her mind. Maybe they were true.

“That’s not to say I won’t ever see you again,” Luz went on. “You know that not a day will go by where I don’t think of you.”

A few tears made their way down Amity’s cheeks. She let herself watch Luz’s face for a moment longer, allowing herself to get lost in her gentle eyes and soft smile for what might be the last time. “Can I- can I kiss you?” she asked. She wondered if the tears had muddled her words so badly that Luz couldn’t understand them.

But Luz certainly did. She leaned forward and captured Amity’s lips with her own, curling her arm around the back of her girlfriend’s shoulders, and with the kind of softness and finality that warmed Amity to her very core. Amity tried her very best to memorize the softness of Luz’s lips against her own, and the way Luz’s arms were wrapped gently around her waist. 

“Are you ready?” Luz asked when they parted at last.

Amity nodded- not that she had any other choice. It was death or returning to Luz’s painful departure, though she wasn’t sure which would hurt more.

She drew a spell circle, and, feeling the stone beginning to creep down her arms, rested her forehead against Luz’s and closed her eyes. They recited the spell together, each word stronger and with more conviction than the last.

“ _ To rewind. To rectify. To try again. To make it right. Remember now, the start of time. Go back and don’t put out the light.” _

Brightness surrounded them. The noises of the crowd faded away, and for a moment, it was only the two of them in time and space- until the light began to fade, and they were led back towards their own lives, towards the future, towards something new, yet achingly familiar.

~

When Amity opened her eyes she was standing in the living room of the Owl House. 

Four pairs of eyes blinked at her, each astounded and a little confused.

“Mittens?” Emira ventured. “Are you… alright? You zoned out there for a moment.”

“I’m fine.” Amity tried to steady her breathing. 

“I understand if you’re sad,” Edric’s tone was surprisingly sensitive. “We won’t make fun of you.”

“We’re sad too,” replied Em. Ed elbowed her sharply in the ribs. “Oh my stars, stop that.”

“I just need a moment alone,” Amity said. She swept her gaze over the four people in the room. Even Lilith looked far more sympathetic than normal. 

“We understand, kiddo,” Eda said softly. “Luz meant a lot to you and you’ll miss her. We all will.” 

Amity was unsure how to respond, so she just gave Eda a curt nod. 

Without even controlling them, she found her feet leading her towards the staircase.

When she arrived upstairs and passed through the door to Luz’s room, she noticed that the bedroom had been completely emptied out. The hardwood floors were bare, the chest in the corner shut, no otter onesie to be seen poking out from underneath the lid. A blast of cold air hit her and she realized that the window had been left open. She approached it to shut it, but her gaze caught a small shape resting on the windowsill. She gathered it up in her arms. It was soft to the touch.

It caught the moonlight and Amity realized that it was a familiar purple-and-white hoodie.

Taped to the top was a small paper tag that read: 

_ For Amity, _

_ I can’t wait to see you again! _

_ Love, your favorite human _

Amity hugged the hoodie to her chest and gazed out the window at the star-speckled sky.

_ Thank you, Luz. _

_ ~  
End of Act II _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the song i listened to a lot while brainstorming/writing the ending of this fic: https://youtu.be/-JkojNlI0x4
> 
> where to start oh boy... 
> 
> first id like to once again thank my wonderful beta (https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elderon/pseuds/Elderon) they’ve done an amazing job with these last few chapters,, i promised them i wouldn’t be too sappy in the notes this time so i won’t. go read their fics :)
> 
> ok so everyone, thank you SO MUCH for reading this entire thing, it’s definitely the biggest project i’ve ever tackled and i was afraid i wouldn’t be able to finish it!! honestly 50k words in a month and a half,,, it isn’t exactly a nano win but i didn’t really think i had it in me!! honestly i’m not sure how i’m feeling abt that little green check mark up there... h
> 
> i didn’t think anyone would even enjoy my writing enough to actually read what’s technically a whole novel bc like,,, i’m just a random high schooler who’s been sitting alone at lunch since 6th grade but SJFJJSHDKSK reading the comments on this story makes me feel a hell of a lot better about myself!! so thank you!! it’s been a blast writing for yall 
> 
> until next time, kontra <3


	22. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok fine

_ Tick. Tick. Tick. _

Luz’s eyes flickered open.

It wasn’t yet dawn. Darkness flooded her room and silence pounded in her ears, save for the ticking of the clock that hung on her wall, just above her headboard.

_ Tick. Tick. Tick. _

Was it time for school already? 

Instinctively Luz reached towards her nightstand, where her phone would be plugged in, so she could check the time. Her hands brushed smooth wood. Save for a half-empty cup of water, a notepad, and a pen, her nightstand was bare. Of course. How could she have forgotten? Out of habit, she grabbed the pen, scrawled a light glyph on the paper, and tapped it. Nothing happened.

Heaving a sigh, she stumbled out of her bed and switched the overhead lights on. Instantly the room was bathed with brightness, and she squinted against it, her brain buzzing. When her vision adjusted, she made her way back to her bed and pulled the blinds on her window open. She rested her cheek against the cold glass and noticed that her reflection appeared disheveled. She hadn’t changed before she’d gone to sleep last night. Her Hexside uniform was smudged and dirty and there were bags under her eyes. She almost wished she had her hoodie with her- it was much more comfortable- but she reminded herself that it was better off left behind, and that its new owner would appreciate it very much.

She couldn’t see stars here the way she could on the Isles. The sky there had been so beautiful. 

She wished she hadn’t dropped her phone as she’d hurried out of the portal seconds before it closed.

Then maybe Amity could send her pictures of the stars they’d watched together. 

~

“You made the honor roll this year, cariño!”

Luz forced herself to smile widely at her mom, ignoring the obvious presence of her report card sitting on the kitchen table. “Thanks!”

“This will be really good for you when you start applying to colleges next year,” Camila went on. “Schools will really start to notice you. You’re a smart girl, Luz. I’m glad you’re finally embracing your full potential. Summer camp last year must have really helped, huh?”

“Yeah,” Luz echoed. Already her head was spinning. College? College  _ applications?  _ Summer camp  _ last year?  _ When had time slipped by without her noticing? It felt as if she’d been living in her own little bubble while the years around her passed.

She wasn’t ready to be a junior. 

“Aww, don’t worry!” Sensing her daughter’s worry, Camila placed a hand on Luz’s shoulder reassuringly. “I’ll help you with all that. It’s a scary time, I know. But you won’t be alone.”

“Not alone,” Luz murmured. She appreciated the sentiment. 

But if she wasn’t alone, then why was there such a huge hole in her heart?

~

“Luz Noceda, class of 2024!”

Every inch of Luz’s skin tingled. Her steps felt automatic, her mind a million miles away. The cool leather of her diploma touched her fingertips. She could see faces in the crowd, but they all blurred together. This felt… familiar. Her thoughts drifted a little farther, seeking the corners of a memory she knew was there, somewhere, buried under three years worth of loneliness and academic frenzy. 

_ “Are you ready?” _

_ “Ready as I’ll ever be,” Amity replied. She was trying to sound sure of herself, Luz could tell, but there was still a slight tremor in her voice. Luz knew she must be radiating nervousness of her own. Amity, ever the empath, squeezed Luz’s hand in reassurance, and together they stared defiantly out at the crowd. _

The cheering faded away, and Luz was jolted back to the present. 

_ I can’t wait to take this itchy robe off,  _ she thought as she left the stage.

~

There was a strange energy around Luz’s house the day she finished packing her things and getting ready to leave.

Well, actually, there had  _ always  _ been a strange energy around Luz’s house, not just today. But today… today it felt stronger, nearly tangible. Like it was about to grow hands and drag her into the depths of the woods and let the magic in the air seep back into her veins.

She resisted the touch. Today began a new chapter in her life. She knew she needed to move on. She was a creative writing major now- she could create as many fantastical words and people as she wanted in her classes, and everything could look and act exactly as she wanted it to. She’d never have to leave her world to find another. She still had business in this world anyway. She had to go out, meet new people, make friends, become as successful as her mom promised she would be if she worked hard. Memories would only trip her up, distract her.

If she was being honest with herself, she didn’t remember a lot about her time on the Isles anymore. She couldn’t recall the name of Hexside’s rival school, or which hand Eda had worn her ring on, or the three key components of an Abomination. She didn’t remember what the little golden Grudgby beetle was called, or the names of all the girls in Boscha’s posse. She couldn’t even remember the format of scroll numbers, which was perhaps her greatest regret.

There were a few things she could remember with great clarity, though. Things that she could imagine so vividly in her mind that they almost seemed real. She saw these images in her dreams all the time, and when she did, she felt like she was being torn open from the inside.

A festival. The glimmering of golden eyes in moonlit darkness.

Heat on her face and smoke in her lungs.

Stone crawling up her leg. A pair of soft hands in hers.

Fury, a heavy weapon in her hands, her feet barely skimming the dirt floor as she charged at her enemy.

The sensation of being held close. Gentle fingers combing through her hair, the soft murmuring of a voice that was so obviously laced with affection she wondered how she hadn’t heard it sooner.

She missed Amity.

Even thinking the name caused tears to rise up against the back of her lower eyelids.  _ Amity Blight. Amity. Amity. Amity. _ But her thoughts had already begun to spiral, it was too late, memories were barraging her brain faster than what she could deal with-

She took a deep breath to steady herself.

_ You’re okay, Luz. _

She paused and set the book down that she’d been ready just about to pack into the last moving box. The energy in the air was growing stronger. It felt like millions of tiny sparks- the air was sparking the way her senses did all that time ago whenever she’d cast a spell. She couldn’t ignore it any longer- something was happening in the woods. And she had to be there for it.

She was out the door before she even fully made the decision.

There was undoubtedly magic in the atmosphere that afternoon. It was rejuvenating, and it filled Luz’s body from her head to her toes, giving her a strength she didn’t even know she was missing. 

She felt fourteen again as she approached the decrepit shack outside the forest. The closer she got, the more certain she was that something was about to happen, to more magic she felt swirling in the air, inviting her closer.

She stood at the entrance to the shack. Her heart soared with excitement.

A flash of light appeared inside.

And she waited.


End file.
